Placement: Department of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
Billy Broderick was born in the Philadelphia area, where he grew up and attended local Quaker schools before attending Oberlin College in Ohio, from which he graduated in May with a B.A. in Mathematics and Neuroscience. He has a lifelong interest in scientific research, working in wet labs in high school and college before deciding that computational research is of greater interest, focusing on mathematical and computational models and simulations. While in college, Billy was also a member of the varsity tennis and club ping pong teams, competing against fellow Oberlin students and those at other schools. Although math and science are his primary interests, Billy is also passionate about learning languages and experiencing other cultures. He took the opportunity to study abroad in Budapest, Hungary and Beijing, China while at college. While in Budapest on the Budapest Semesters in Mathematics program, his studies concentrated on math (including combinatorics, for which Hungary is renowned), but he also took advantage of the opportunity to learn a small amount of Hungarian and explore Eastern Europe. In Beijing on the Princeton in Beijing summer program, Billy continued his studies of Mandarin Chinese and tasted as many different varieties of food as he could find. He has studied Chinese, French, and Hungarian and hopes to continue learning new languages as he continues his studies. After graduation, Billy plans to work as a research assistant to experience different research environments and topics before pursuing a Ph.D. in computational neuroscience.
At the Department of Psychology of South China Normal University, Billy works in the laboratory of Professor Wang Suiping. Dr. Wang is a psychologist by training, but does research focusing on the brain. Dr. Wang and her team use cognitive neuroscience to examine language, specifically the psychological and neural mechanisms behind speech. South China Normal University is a comprehensive university located in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province.