Rahul Bhui

Rahul Bhui is Associate Professor of Marketing at the MIT Sloan School of Management and affiliate faculty at the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society. His interdisciplinary research bridges cognitive science, computational neuroscience, and behavioral economics to uncover the unifying principles behind human rationality and irrationality in decision-making. He holds appointments in the Marketing group and contributes to cutting-edge research in management science and data-driven behavioral models.

• BA (Honours) in Economics, University of British Columbia
• MS in Behavioral and Social Neuroscience, Caltech
• PhD in Computation and Neural Systems, Caltech
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Mind Brain Behavior Program, Harvard University (Departments of Psychology and Economics)

His research explores how cognitive and neural constraints shape decision-making in complex environments. He investigates topics such as disappointment, expectation, choice overload, and belief updating using computational models grounded in information theory, Bayesian inference, and reinforcement learning. He proposes that humans behave in a “resource-rational” manner—optimizing decisions under constraints of time, energy, and information. This framework explains both adaptive behavior and persistent cognitive biases.

Rahul’s recent publications span diverse domains including sustainable policy, misinformation, political cognition, and climate science communication. His work frequently appears in top journals such as PNAS, Nature Human Behaviour, Management Science, and Trends in Cognitive Sciences. The research often integrates large-scale data, AI-generated stimuli, and cross-cultural analysis to understand decision-making across biological, cultural, and societal contexts.

His scientific awards include:

• Early Career Award, Society for Neuroeconomics
• Vernon L. Smith Excellence Award, Society for Experimental Finance
• Rising Star, Association for Psychological Science
• Best 40-Under-40 MBA Professor, Poets&Quants

Rahul has advised and collaborated with researchers across disciplines and institutions. He has received significant research funding, including a $450,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research. His teaching focuses on marketing innovation and decision-making, combining quantitative modeling with psychological insight. He mentors students and leads an interdisciplinary research lab that draws from psychology, economics, neuroscience, computer science, and anthropology. His lab collaborates with leading scholars such as Colin Camerer, Sam Gershman, Joe Henrich, and Thomas Griffiths.