Job Description

About CHILD

The Centre for Holistic Initiatives for Learning and Development or CHILD was established under the umbrella of the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUS Medicine) with a generous gift from the Lien Foundation. In collaboration with other partners such as the Centre for Evidence and Implementation (CEI) and A*STAR’s Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS), CHILD brings together experts in the field of translational research, child development, and implementation science to help give children the best start to life.

Job Purpose

A key requirement of the role is the ability to recognise the significance of child development research and to support the Centre’s work in synthesis and communication of this research to policymakers and practitioners.

We are currently looking for a highly motivated Research Fellow to engage directly with academic researchers on a regular basis.  You will work across a broad range of research projects and contribute to describing, showcasing and maximising their impact on policy and practice.  This is a varied role, offering the opportunity to develop your existing skills in multiple areas, including evidence review, writing, communications and project coordination. You will also have the opportunity to deepen your knowledge and understanding of child development research and the ways in which it can contribute to policy and practice and improve outcomes.

We seek dynamic and forward-thinking, highly organised individuals with excellent attention to detail, strong interpersonal skills, and a proven ability to influence and succeed within a complex and fast paced environment.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Deliver desk-based research to review and synthesise research
• Support the internal and external communication of research synthesis activities to maximise their profile at regional, national, and international levels, as appropriate
• Work closely with the Operations team to ensure a strong showcasing of the work across multiple audiences
• Manage the design, planning and delivery of projects, or components of a variety of projects, but primarily research and evidence synthesis. This includes:
  • Develop and ensure the most rigorous methods possible (given scope and resource of the project) are applied to evidence synthesis and research activities
  • Manage the development of search strategies, screening of literature, extraction of data, quality assessment of evidence and draft reporting
  • Provide projects with technical expertise focused on evidence synthesis methods
  • Follow evidence synthesis quality control processes
  • Develop, support and implement research quality control and assurance processes in data management

Duties and Responsibilities

• Manage the implementation and on-time delivery of evidence synthesis projects and products
• Design and implement searches of electronic social science, health, and education bibliographic databases
• Build and maintain an internal database of researchers working on key relevant themes and methods to communicate opportunities, share networks and organise internal events. Build and maintain a database of non-academic organisations to whom the impact of CHILD and other relevant research can be communicated
• Provide training, technical support and advice to junior staff in relation to evidence searching, screening, extraction, quality assessment and report drafting
• Provide support to project team meetings by preparing agendas, reporting progress, raising issues of concern or risk, documenting decision-making and enacting required changes
• Design, planning and execution of research projects in the area of early childhood, child development and related health research
• Analysis and interpretation of research data
• Writing of research reports, peer-reviewed publications and grant applications
• Dissemination of research proposals and findings through internal presentations and external scientific meetings/conferences

Qualifications

Education:

• A PhD in a relevant discipline

Candidates with experience in the following areas are encouraged to apply:

• Public policy
• Early childhood and child development
• Psychology
• Behavioural or Social Science applied to health and healthcare
• Health Services, Applied Health or Public Health Research

Preferred Experience

• Experience in science communications including evidence briefs and policy briefs.
• Understanding and analysing complex research and data to draw out key messages and conclusions.
• Strong writing skills with ability to convey information clearly and concisely to non-expert audiences.
• Previous administrative experience
• Organisation and implementation of events, activities and programmes, preferably within a research environment
• Excellent organisational skills, including the ability to lead on projects, prioritise workloads and meet deadlines, without close supervision.
• Ability to work flexibly and cooperatively with others in a team.
• Ability to mentor junior research staff and students.

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: Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
Department : Dean's Office (Medicine)
Employee Referral Eligible: No
Job requisition ID : 15025