Rate My Professor Tali Sharot

Tali Sharot is a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience in the Department of Experimental Psychology at University College London, where she directs the Affective Brain Lab and serves as Deputy Director of Graduate Studies. She also holds an affiliation with the Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research and serves on the faculty of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. Sharot earned a BA in Economics and Psychology from Tel Aviv University and a PhD from New York University. Her research integrates neuroscience, behavioral economics, and psychology to study how emotion and motivation influence people’s beliefs and decisions. She is a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow and holds a Wellcome Trust Discovery Award, including a recent grant of £3.5 million. Sharot previously served as President of the Society of Neuroeconomics and is Head Section Editor (neuroscience) for Science Advances. She has authored award-winning books including The Optimism Bias (2011), The Influential Mind (2017), and Look Again (2024, co-authored with Cass Sunstein). In addition to her academic appointments, Sharot has delivered two TED talks viewed more than 17 million times in total and has written Op-Eds for outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Washington Post. She has also served as a consultant for global companies and government projects and on the boards of several companies.

Sharot’s work has contributed to understanding decision-making processes through the lens of affective neuroscience. Her appointments span leading institutions in the UK and the United States, reflecting her international profile in cognitive neuroscience.