CNRS@CREATE is looking for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Urban Studies to join our SPACE project team.
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
Cities are at the forefront of adaptation and mitigation strategies in a wide range of global issues. Over the past decades, climate change and public health more particularly have been increasingly connected as changing environmental conditions pose significant threats to health and health care systems. The propagation of vector-borne infectious diseases, such as dengue, malaria and Zika, and new, emerging diseases, such as Covid-19, have prompted cities to increase their adaptive capacities in terms of prediction, prevention, and preparedness to current and future pandemics.
Building political agency across scales of government, in various national and transnational arenas and through various means (city-to-city cooperation, city networking, city diplomacy) has been a key challenge for cities. Building and sharing real-time data and coordinating public health responses across borders have been facilitated by the use of digital technologies through various types of devices (contact tracing applications, global mobility trackers, temperature screening kiosks and stations, environmental and population surveillance drones, digital platforms and web-based mapping of hotspot areas). Predictive Artificial Intelligence (AI) fed by growing streams of data from various sources along with increased capacity of Machine Learning have allowed improving model robustness. Finally, biotechnologies are also leveraged for improving diagnostics, vaccines and new vector control strategies. This takes place in a context whereby international policy transfer or policy mobility at large are being accelerated worldwide by digital and social media.
Against this backdrop, this postdoctoral research position aims at exploring the ways in which cities in South-East Asia are responding to the emergence and propagation of infectious diseases, both endemic, vector-borne diseases, such as dengue, and new, emerging infectious diseases, such as Covid-19. More particularly, it aims at analyzing the different ways in which knowledge about diseases and public health responses are built, circulated and shared across borders. Emphasis will be put on the use of “smart technologies” (digital technologies based on Big Data, Mobile Internet and AI) for the prevention and management of diseases. Case studies should include Singapore as a main case and a selection of other relevant cities in South-East Asia sharing similar health and environmental conditions. Specific digital technologies and tools may be selected to narrow down the international comparison.
The project’s research methodology may include discourses and/or content analysis of global and national narratives on changing urban environmental and health policies, literature reviews, which may include a scoping review, designing and conducting qualitative interviews with public and private stakeholders in Singapore.
EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS
- A doctoral degree in the appropriate field or discipline, such as urban studies, urban geography, urban planning, sociology, political science, public policy, environmental policy, public health, communication studies and cultural studies.
- The candidate should have demonstrated expertise in methods of qualitative research including interviews, ethnography, focus group discussions, data collection, and analysis.
- Proficiency in English
- Proficiency in one other Singapore’s official languages would be an asset.
This postdoctoral scholar will benefit from close collaboration with other team members from the SPACE project.
FURTHER INFORMATION & CONTACT
Salary range: 6100 to 7200 SGD (depending on suitability and experience).
Duration: 12 months.
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: [email protected].
We will begin reviewing applications for the positions immediately. Expected start date of the contract is April 2024.
