Tao Cheng - Biography#

Professor Tao Cheng is Professor of GeoInformatics at UCL, Founding Director of UCL SpaceTimeLab, and former Mobility Group Lead at The Alan Turing Institute. She has also served as Vice-Dean (International) in UCL Engineering. Trained in civil engineering surveying, photogrammetry and remote sensing, and GeoInformatics (PhD and DSc), she is a Fellow and Chartered Engineer of the ICE (FICE) and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS).

Her research advances GeoAI and space-time analytics for networked urban systems, with applications in transport, public health, security, and infrastructure resilience. She has secured over £27m in major research funding, served on editorial boards and international review panels (including ERC, EPSRC, NERC, SFI, SNSF, and FCT), and built extensive global collaborations.

Professor Cheng founded SpaceTimeLab as a leading international centre and established the first MSc in Space-Time Analytics and Big Data Mining, creating a strong global talent pipeline. Her work has delivered real-world impact, including operational crime forecasting with the Metropolitan Police, mobility analytics for Transport for London, and advisory contributions to the UK Department for Transport. Her honours include the U.V. Helava Award, the ONS Research Excellence People’s Choice Award, Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS), election to the ISDE Council, and inclusion in Stanford’s Top 2% Scientists lists.