RESEARCH ASSISTANT IN THE FIELD OF QUANTITATIVE URBAN / POLICY STUDIES – SPACE

Offer posted on 5 August 2024.

CNRS@Create & Singapore Management University is recruiting 1 Research Assistant (6 months, half-time) in the field of quantitative Urban / Policy Studies for a research project focusing on sanitary risks mitigation and environmental infectious diseases (dengue and Covid pandemics) in Singapore.

SPACE PROJECT

The SPACE project is developing a research protocol for infectious disease prediction and prevention in Singapore. The project draws upon analyses of the risk factors and sociospatial patterns that drive dengue and COVID-19 transmission in Singapore, as well as the social and technical skills developed by individuals and community groups in response to disease propagation. Combining insight from the social sciences (geography, architecture and urban design, communication, economics, sociology, public policy) with biology (epidemiology, entomology) and computer science (artificial intelligence, biostatistics), the project will use the concept of “adaptive capacity” (AC) to explore the potential of community-based “latent social capital” (i.e. human, cultural, political, and social) as key assets for adaptive responses to health challenges related to dengue in its interplay with COVID-19.

The project brings together 23 researchers, 10 from France and 13 from five Singaporean universities (NTU, NUS, SUTD, SMU and SUSS). The research will be conducted in Singapore.

DESCRIPTION

Within the framework of an international team of about 20 people, the candidate will be joining a working group at CNRS and SMU on public policy analysis of disease mitigation, daily maintenance of the built environment, residents’ behaviours regarding green areas and waste management, perception of risk and actors’ behaviours with the aim of refining an epidemic prediction model and providing policy recommendations to build the communities’ adaptive capacity.

The candidate will be in charge of i) finalizing a questionnaire to be later used for a face-to-face survey with 600 Singapore residents ; ii) processing the survey data and aiding with data collection as needed ; iii) writing a report illuminating the main results of the quantitative survey.

Context

The redesigning of cities can be an effective strategy for controlling infectious diseases, as exemplified by the cholera epidemics of the mid-19th century in Europe (Frioux, 2017). Singapore is strongly committed to developing a healthy city policy, having achieved some of the highest standards in the world for living conditions and the quality of health care. In many respects, Singapore is approaching the hygienic ideal of the sanitary city, notably thanks to the implementation of a reticular infrastructure to control the infectious risks associated with urban waste.

Nevertheless, the city-state remains exposed to regular outbreaks of infectious diseases – a challenge that is likely to intensify with climate change. Many experts agree that populations must be prepared to live with infectious diseases because of the interrelations between infection agents and climate change. To achieve sustainable responses to health challenges, it is critical that local communities and urban stakeholders be regarded as active players in the production of knowledge, surveillance, and responses to epidemics.

In this context, the project “Shaping Public Adaptive Capacity For Environmental Infectious Diseases” builds on the premise to develop a dynamic, adaptive approach to urban sustainability. The project draws upon analyses of the risk factors and socio-spatial patterns that drive dengue transmission in Singapore, as well as the social and technical skills developed by individuals and social groups in response to disease propagation. The program uses the concept of adaptive capacity (AC) to explore the potential of community based latent social capital (i.e. human cultural, political and social) as key assets for adaptive responses to health challenges. Acquiring knowledge on the adaptive capacity of urban stakeholders and communities is crucial to improve the predictive power of epidemiological models, as well as to understand the processes that give rise to the concentration of health risk factors in specific locations.

Within this framework, our critical research aims to understand in a practical way when infectious risks emerge, challenging the infrastructural paradigm, and how it can be improved. To this end, the project’s WP3 intends to launch a survey for highlighting exploring the interaction between individual or household-level dengue control behaviours and public policies, in three fields: i) Wolbachia and vaccine deployment; ii) perceptions and behaviours related to gardening and green areas; iii) waste management; iv) mobility of residents.

This research is supported by the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) programme.

Job description

The candidate will be in charge of finalizing a questionnaire and processing the data of a survey in a research project focusing on sanitary risks mitigation and environmental diseases (dengue) in the city of Singapore.

This includes:

  • Checking and finalizing the items of the questionnaire.
  • Reviewing interim/pilot data with survey company
  • Processing the survey data.
  • Analysing the data and writing a summary report to integrate with grant deliverables.

EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS

  • Masters/PhD (pursuing or completed) in Urban Studies, STS, Public Policy, Critical infrastructures Studies, Geography or a related field;
  • Strong quantitative research skills with experience in econometric analysis of survey data;
  • Proficiency in the use of Stata, R, SPSS or similar software for data analysis;
  • Conducting autonomous research in coordination with supervising team;
  • Preferably already in Singapore and knowledge of Singapore context is a plus;
  • Excellent writing skills;
  • Strong communication and organizational skills and enjoy working in a team-oriented environment;
  • Good English skills are required, Asian languages appreciated;
  • Some knowledge with GIS and cartographic tools would be appreciated.

FURTHER INFORMATION & CONTACT

Salary and Appointment Terms

The position is available starting 1st of August 2024 and for a duration of 6 months (half-time work – maximum 16 hours per week). The position will be based in Singapore.

Net salary range: 2,500-3,000 Singapore Dollars (depending on suitability and experience)

Benefits:  you will be eligible for the benefits that CNRS@CREATE offers.

Further

Workplace Address: CREATE Tower (NUS Campus), 1 Create Way #08-01 Singapore 138602

Please send a short cover letter describing your suitability for the position, detailed CV with publication list, a concise description of research interests and future plans, and academic transcripts to:tact

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