Postdoctoral Fellow in Asia Research Institute, Asia Studies

ASIA RESEARCH INSTITUTE

The Asia Research Institute (ARI), National University of Singapore (NUS), invites applications for TWO Postdoctoral/Research Fellowships to join the Plastic Waste project team.

The successful applicants are expected to commence duties at NUS in August 2022, or as soon as possible thereafter. 

Research Project

The Plastic Waste and Women’s Household Practices in Asia and Australia Project sets out to advance research and knowledge on the social, historical and digital practices that shape women’s household management of plastic waste. The project aims to identify and understand the dynamics associated with household consumption and disposal of plastics in Singapore, Australia and Japan, so as to complement the national and global aspirations to realise a circular economy. By extending knowledge of how gendered labour in the household context (including citizen women and migrant domestic workers) shapes the consumption and disposal of plastic waste, we highlight the importance of including gender analysis through a household lens in rethinking the environmental policy agenda.  The project is funded by the Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund Tier 2.

Successful applicants will be hosted in the ARI Asian Migration Cluster and will work with the Plastic Waste project team comprising scholars in Singapore and Australia (PI: Professor Brenda Yeoh, Co-PI: Dr Natalie Pang, and Key Collaborator Dr Shiori Shakuto) to advance research and knowledge on women’s household plastic consumption and recycling practices and its implications for realizing sustainable future.

Job Description

• Contribute to formulating relevant research questions;
• Designing and implementing the research project;
• Performing rigorous analyses of data;
• Presenting research work at international and domestic conferences; and
• Joint authorship of publications in high-impact peer-reviewed journals. 
• Other than working on the research project, appointed Research Fellows will also have opportunities to be involved in organising workshops and webinars, applying for grant funding, and participating in current migration cluster projects.

Requirements

Postdoctoral/Research Fellow 1 will conduct archival research and life history interviews in Singapore and Australia, and also participate in the work on household ethnographies in Singapore and Australia.

Postdoctoral/Research Fellow 2 will conduct analysis of online images and texts associated with plastic waste within households, and also support the work on household ethnographies in Singapore and Australia.

Applicants for both the positions are expected to fulfil the following criteria:

• Hold a PhD degree (or awaiting conferment) in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities, preferably in Social Geography, History, Sociology, Anthropology or Gender Studies (Research Fellow 1);
• Hold a PhD degree (or awaiting conferment) in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities, preferably in areas of Digital/Media Anthropology, Digital Geography, Computational Social Science, and/or Communication (Research Fellow 2);
• Show evidence of a demonstrated research interest in the themes of the project;
• Possess experience in archival research, life history interviews, and ethnographic research methods (Research Fellow 1);
• Possess experience in computational social science, text and discourse analysis, or digital/media anthropology or digital geography. Familiarity with R, Python, and/or visual analytics tools such as Tableau would be an advantage (Research Fellow 2).
• Demonstrate potential in developing a record of publication in high-impact peer-reviewed journals;
• Exhibit a high level of competence and flair in written and spoken communication and in academic writing;
• Possess strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work collaboratively in an inter-disciplinary team;
• Knowledge of Singaporean and Australian contexts will be an advantage.

Terms of Appointment

Application Process

To apply for this position, please combine the following documents in 1 PDF and attach it under the CV column when submitting your application:

• Curriculum vitae
• A cover letter, of no more than 800 words, explaining the applicant’s past research experience and aptitude in relation to the research project.

Only shortlisted applicants will be notified. Shortlisted applicants may be called for interview by zoom.

Covid-19 Message

At NUS, the health and safety of our staff and students are one of our utmost priorities, and COVID-vaccination supports our commitment to ensure the safety of our community and to make NUS as safe and welcoming as possible. Many of our roles require a significant amount of physical interactions with students/staff/public members. Even for job roles that may be performed remotely, there will be instances where on-campus presence is required.

Taking into consideration the health and well-being of our staff and students and to better protect everyone in the campus, applicants are strongly encouraged to have themselves fully COVID-19 vaccinated to secure successful employment with NUS.

More Information

Location: Kent Ridge Campus
Organization: Asia Research Institute
Department: Asia Research Institute