Eric Tao

Eric Tao is interested in investigating how neural circuits within the brain give rise to complex behaviors. Starting fall of 2025, they are pursuing a doctorate in neuroscience and physiology at New York University’s Neuroscience Institute.

Tao is receiving joint bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in May 2025, with majors in cognitive science, mathematics, linguistics and logic. They work in the lab of Dr. Marc Schmidt, studying the courtship behavior of brown-headed cowbirds. In particular, they are interested in understanding how male cowbirds tailor the songs they sing toward the social environment that they find themselves in.

What Tao relishes most about science is how asking simple questions about everyday phenomena — such as how do young songbirds learn how to sing? — can generate deep lines of inquiry that cut into fundamental questions, such as, What goes wrong in the brains of patients with Huntington’s disease, and how can we treat it? How can we build machines that learn how to perform complex tasks without the need to preprogram every last detail?

Beyond research, Tao is also passionate about science outreach and communication, serving as a state event supervisor for Science Olympiad and co-founding the Penn Math Contest, a yearly event at the University of Pennsylvania with the mission to foster a love for mathematics in high schoolers of all different backgrounds, especially those who do not see themselves as “math people” or struggle with math-related anxiety. They also serve as a teaching assistant for the University of Pennsylvania Department of Mathematics and as a leader of the Penn Undergraduate Mathematics Society. Tao endeavors to continue carving out spaces where anyone, regardless of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status, can feel safe to express and explore their scientific interests.

Tao was born in Philadelphia and grew up in the suburb of Wallingford. In their free time, they enjoy playing the piano and viola, reading and writing stories, and crocheting. By combining perspectives from mathematics, statistical physics and evolutionary biology, they hope to uncover the neural mechanisms that allow us to do the things that we take for granted every day.