Dacheng Tao
Also known as Da-Cheng Tao
Dacheng Tao is an AI researcher whose work spans representation learning, computer vision and machine learning. He trained at USTC, CUHK and the University of London, then held posts at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, NTU, UTS and the University of Sydney. His research includes GoDec, an alternating projection method for separating low-rank and sparse structure, and algorithms for moving-camera video and deep-learning-based computer vision. As of October 2026, he is a Distinguished University Professor at NTU and the inaugural director of its Generative AI Lab, after directing the Sydney AI Centre and JD Explore Academy.
- Works
- 1,824
- Citations
- 108,328
- h-index
- 159
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 14 October 2026.
Timeline
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2007–2010
Training across three universities
He earned a BEng at USTC, an MPhil at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and a PhD at the University of London. He was an associate professor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2007–2008, then held a post at Nanyang Technological University from 2008–2010.
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2012
A pattern recognition fellowship
The IAPR named him a Fellow for contributions to pattern recognition and image understanding.
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2013
Separating noisy data
With Tianyi Zhou, he presents GoDec in a paper on randomized and greedy decomposition of big data. The paper describes an alternating projection method that separates low-rank and sparse components from noisy data.
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2016
A move to Sydney
He joins the University of Sydney as a professor after work at UTS, NTU and Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research there focuses on computer vision, deep learning and statistical learning, with applications in robotics, neuroscience and medical informatics.
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2017–2018
A centre for intelligent machines
He directs the UBTECH Sydney Artificial Intelligence Centre, which targets intelligent machines such as robots, self-driving cars and drones. An Australian Laureate Fellowship supports his project on videos from moving cameras and deep-learning-based computer vision. He becomes a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2018.
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2019–2021
Recognition and a new academy
His work on succinct representations of high-dimensional data addresses machine-learning tasks and earns an IEEE ICDM research contributions award. He is named an ACM Fellow in 2019. In 2021, he becomes director of JD Explore Academy and receives the IEEE Computer Society McCluskey Technical Achievement Award.
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As of October 2026
Leading generative AI research
He is the inaugural director of NTU's Generative AI Lab and a Distinguished University Professor in its College of Computing and Data Science.
Sources and credits
Photo: polyu.edu.hk; Prof. Dacheng Tao | Research Centre for Culture and Art Technology; creator not stated. License: Not stated by source. Source: polyu.edu.hk. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.
- Dacheng Tao
- Tao, Dacheng - Person - Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation
- Chronological List of IAPR Fellows – International Association for Pattern Recognition
- [1309.0302] Unmixing Incoherent Structures of Big Data by Randomized or Greedy Decomposition
- Highly-cited researcher joins School of Information Technology - The University of Sydney
- University partners with UBTECH to explore the future of AI - The University of Sydney
- Fellowships and training centres accelerate research capacity - The University of Sydney
- Dacheng Tao
- Academic recognised for excellence in data mining - The University of Sydney
- Professor Dacheng Tao named ACM Fellow - The University of Sydney
- Top AI Scholar Heads JD Explore Academy
- [Distinguished] Deep Model Fusion | Department of Data Science
- Faculty Directory | College of Computing and Data Science | NTU Singapore