hello, I'm Richard.

I am a computational and cognitive neuroscientist. My research centers on developing methods in probabilistic ML/AI, neural data and time series analysis, and computational simulations, with the goal of connecting neurobiology with cognition and behavior. I’m also interested in automating science with NLP and language models, and pretty much any kind of interesting data. I’ve taught classes and written papers on such things. For more details, see Research & CV.

I’m currently a postdoctoral researcher with Jakob Macke in the Machine Learning in Science group at the University of Tübingen and Tübingen AI Center. My main work is on developing simulation, emulation, analysis, and inference methods for neural population dynamics, using generative (ML) and mechanistic (biophysical) models, particularly within the framework of simulation-based inference.

I did my PhD with Bradley Voytek in the Department of Cognitive Science at the University of California, San Diego. Now I miss the ocean. Prior to that, I lived in Toronto, Canada for 11 years. It’s the place I call home, and also where I received my Bachelor’s Degree (University of Toronto, BASc in Engineering Science) and worked for a year at Muse (InteraXon). I was born and raised in Xinjiang, China. There is a lot of grass, mountains, and also deserts there.

I like to be active, mostly by playing basketball, or hiking, running, and biking when I can. I also enjoy silence, meditating, and writing. My blog spans everything in my life, from musings to reflections about neuroscience and academia. to sports, travels, and science & technology. I ponder a lot about life and our place in this world, and sometimes I write about it. At worst, this website is a representation and a record of my life; at best, it becomes an inspiration to someone who will come back to inspire and educate me.