Mr Linscott (21) recently completed a BSc (Hons) in physics and was awarded a Cambridge-Rutherford Memorial Scholarship to further his research into the often bizarre behaviour of condensed matter systems.
The scholarship amounts to about $90,000 a year for up three years and includes an annual return air fare to New Zealand, a living allowance of 11,000 a year, and full payment of academic and college fees.
He will begin his Cambridge studies next October and plans to join the Theory of Condensed Matter Research Group of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory.
He is excited to be following in the footsteps of New Zealander Lord Ernest Rutherford, who undertook his own doctoral study at the laboratory and later became its director.
Mr Linscott said the chance to study with world-leading researchers at Cambridge was ''a dream come true''.
At Otago, he was a student in the Jack Dodd Centre for Quantum Technology, and his honours project was supervised by Associate Prof Blair Blakie.
The project involved investigating the behaviour of ultra-cold gases called Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), a form of matter first experimentally created in the United States in 1995. BECs exhibit many interesting properties, including superconductivity.
His Otago research considered novel theoretical models for handling BECs, to provide new insights into their behaviour.
Mr Linscott cycles and runs to keep fit and relax and is part of the leadership team at the Leith Valley Presbyterian Church's student group.
He also plays the violin and is looking forward to becoming part of the ''huge classical music scene'' at Cambridge.
The scholarship is administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand on behalf of the Rutherford Foundation Trust.
