Research Assistant, SMU Urban Institute

Research Assistant (1-year contract), SMU Urban Institute

About Us

Singapore Management University is a place where high-level professionalism blends together with a healthy informality. The family-like atmosphere among the SMU community fosters a culture where employees work, plan, organise and play together - building a strong collegiality and morale within the university.

Our commitment to attract and retain talent is ongoing. We offer attractive benefits and welfare, competitive compensation packages, and generous professional development opportunities - all to meet the work-life needs of our staff. No wonder, then, that SMU continues to be given numerous awards and recognition for its human resource excellence.

Job Description

The SMU Urban Institute, launched in early 2024, is a university-level research institute dedicated to advancing an interdisciplinary research agenda. Leveraging SMU's strategic position as a dynamic management university in Singapore's city centre, the Institute aims to make a meaningful impact through the study of Asian cities. We are currently seeking individuals with specific skillsets to support the various ongoing research projects at the Institute.

We are seeking a qualified Research Assistant (RA) to work with the Lead PI of a project on Inclusive AI Governance in Southeast Asian Cities. The project will involve fieldwork in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The project seeks to better understand inclusive AI governance in holistic terms, by which we mean consideration of both its upstream and downstream formulations and effects.

As much of the work will be interdisciplinary in scope, candidates with academic backgrounds in a broad range of social science disciplines are welcome to apply. These include, but are not limited to, geography, anthropology, sociology, environmental studies, and more. Candidates with qualitative and/or quantitative skillsets are welcome to apply.

• Qualitative research: building and maintaining a database of contacts; (snowball) sampling; conducting interviews; transcribing, coding, and analysing interview data.
• Quantitative research: liaising with panel providers; survey design; project management; data cleaning and analysis.
• Conducting primary fieldwork in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, and Bangkok.
• Project management: coordinating amongst project PIs; assisting the Lead PI with administrative tasks like IRB approvals; organising stakeholder workshops in Singapore and overseas; liaising with internal and external project stakeholders; annual project reporting.
• Any other ad hoc tasks that will contribute to the success of the project.
  
  

Qualifications

• An undergraduate (Bachelor's) degree by the date of appointment. Prior research experience is preferred.
• Have some experience conducting research in Singapore and/or in Southeast Asia.
• Be organised, detail-oriented and motivated to learn.
• Have good academic writing and research skills.
• Have the ability to work effectively in interdisciplinary teams spanning the social sciences, computing, and urban research.