Mercer Times

Pietro Cibinel, Rama Hagos, Tung Nguyen, and Zhiyi “Allen” Ren have been awarded the Porter Ogden Jacobus Fellowship, Princeton University's highest accolade for graduate students. The fellows will be recognized at the Alumni Day ceremonies on February 22.

The fellowship, established in 1905, supports each recipient's final year of study at Princeton. It is granted to one Ph.D. student from each of the four divisions: humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering. These students are selected based on their exceptional scholarly achievements.

Pietro Cibinel is a fifth-year doctoral student in philosophy who joined Princeton in 2020. He holds degrees from Lancaster University and the University of Oxford. His dissertation titled "Individual Risks and Social Outcomes" explores moral philosophy concerning welfare distribution in society. Cibinel said his research focuses on "normative questions about what we should do," especially regarding policymaking under uncertainty.

Rama Hagos is a sixth-year doctoral student in sociology who began her studies at Princeton in 2019 after earning her bachelor's degree from Amherst College. Her dissertation examines patterns of social stratification among various migrant groups in the United States during different historical periods. Hagos stated that her work challenges existing theories by including diverse migrant experiences.

Tung Nguyen is a fifth-year doctoral student specializing in applied and computational mathematics since 2020. His research addresses a longstanding problem in graph theory known as the Erdős–Hajnal conjecture from 1977. Nguyen's adviser Paul Seymour noted his significant breakthroughs and described him as having accomplished feats beyond expectations.

Zhiyi “Allen” Ren is a sixth-year doctoral candidate in mechanical and aerospace engineering with degrees from Johns Hopkins University. His dissertation focuses on teaching robots to understand human intentions through data-driven methods while ensuring safety and reliability. Ren aims to enhance robot capabilities for everyday tasks.

Each fellow has made notable contributions within their fields during their time at Princeton, receiving praise from faculty members for their dedication and innovative approaches to research.