What the role is
The Singapore Botanic Gardens (SBG) is one of the oldest tropical botanical gardens and one of only three botanic gardens in the world inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has an extensive living and herbarium collection, including large living collections of orchids, palms, cycads, gingers and plants of human cultural significance, along with extensive herbarium collections from Singapore, Malaysia and other parts of Southeast Asia.
What you will be working on
Working closely with staff from various divisions in NParks, you will carry out conduct research on seed biology, develop novel methods for the storage of seeds and other germplasm material (e.g. tissue culture) from a variety of species, and participate in seed collection, processing, storage and databasing, and publication of research and seed banking and testing results.
You will coordinate the day-to-day operations of the Seed Bank such as managing contractors, interns and volunteers, as well as administrative work processes such as licensing, chemical storage, waste disposal, and maintenance of lab equipment. You will ensure that all Seed Bank activities adhere to international conventions such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna & Flora (CITES) etc. You will also work with external parties, such as other seed banks, research institutions, institutes of higher learning and visiting scientists, to establish Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) and research collaboration projects.
You will also participate in the development of an appropriate storage and databasing system which can be integrated with other systems in NParks as well as the Global Genome Biodiversity Network.
What we are looking for
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in seed biology, botany, plant biology, plant morphology, plant physiology, plant molecular biology, or related.
- Preferably with 5 years of independent research experience (not inclusive of undergraduate and graduate supervised research work).
- Familiarity with laboratory-based research and operations.
- Experience in scientific publishing, drafting research proposals, research collaboration agreements.
- Physically fit to conduct field work for seed collections.
Only shortlisted candidates are notified.
