Job Description

We invite applications for a postdoctoral research fellow under the Social Science and Humanities Research (SSHR) Fellowship, led by Principal Investigator Dr Lin Weiqiang. Successful applicants must hold a PhD degree in the Social Sciences and Humanities. 

Awarded by Singapore’s Social Science Research Council (SSRC), a Social Science and Humanities Research (SSHR) Fellowship, led by Principle Investigator Dr Lin Weiqiang (National University of Singapore) with collaborators Professor Peter Adey (Royal Holloway, University of London) and Dr Tina Harris (University of Amsterdam), is seeking to appoint a postdoctoral fellow to contribute to the team’s research activities on airport infrastructure, automation and labour.  

Motivated by the rapid acceleration of aeromobilities in Asia, the SSHR Fellowship project aims to better understand the inner-workings of the aviation industry as well as inform related policies surrounding infrastructure building, technology and airport labour in the region. The project will focus on the daily labour that goes into the maintenance and reproduction of airport infrastructure as well as its evolving relationships with automation in a post-COVID world. Our focus is on contemporary Asia and is concerned with the sustainability of the present turn towards mega-infrastructures.

The position will sit within the Department of Geography at NUS. Contract will be awarded for at least 12 months, and up to 18 months. The postdoctoral fellow will work closely with the SSHR Fellowship project team, including the PI, two project collaborators, one PhD scholar and two research assistants.

Qualifications

The successful candidate should be well-versed in cultural theory and at least one of the following research themes. There exists a possibility for combining the themes below with the candidate’s own theoretical interests: 

• Aeromobilities 
• Politics of infrastructure 
• Labour and automation  

He/she should have: 

• A PhD in Anthropology, Geography, History, Sociology or another relevant (Social Science or Humanities) discipline, or be awaiting conferment of a PhD (the PhD must be awarded by the time the post is taken up). An official letter from the Registrar’s Office of your university will be required to confirm the award of your PhD degree before contracts are issued. 
• Regional expertise and/or demonstrable interest in Asia’s infrastructural projects. 
• A promising trajectory in research and publication; a publication record in areas related to the above specified research interests and field areas is a significant advantage.  
• Excellent communication skills in English. Proficiency in another language/other languages is a plus.

The successful candidate is expected to contribute significantly to the SSHR Fellowship project besides carrying out his/her own research plans.

This includes, but is not limited to: 

• Conducting international fieldwork (predominantly in the form of semi-structured interviews) with up to 120 research participants in Beijing, Jakarta and/or Dubai 
• Contributing to fresh research directions and co-writing. 
• Co-organisation of and/or paper presentations in workshops and conference sessions.
• Collaborations with other researchers (in the department and beyond) where appropriate.

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 presences are required. 

In accordance with Singapore's legal requirements, unvaccinated workers will not be able to work on the NUS premises with effect from 15 January 2022. As such, job applicants will need to be fully COVID-19 vaccinated to secure successful employment with NUS.

More Information

Location: Block AS2-03-01
Organization: National University of Singapore
Department : Geography
Employee Referral Eligible:
Job requisition ID : 13199