Research Associate, School of Computing

National University of Singapore; Singapore; On-site; SGD 48,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

The National University of Singapore is seeking a Research Associate in the School of Computing for a project on trustworthy AI for psychological consultation. The role involves evaluating AI therapist responses, training language models, and implementing privacy-preserving methods. Candidates should hold a Master’s degree in a relevant field, possess strong Python programming skills, and have experience in machine learning and natural language processing. The position is based at Kent Ridge Campus, promoting collaboration in a dynamic research environment.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in Computer Science, AI, or related field is required.
• Strong programming skills in Python and experience with machine learning.
• Experience with NLP, trustworthy AI, or relevant areas is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Benchmark and evaluate AI therapist responses based on psychological principles.
• Train and fine-tune large language models for psychological consultation.
• Implement privacy-preserving AI methods for sensitive user data.

Skills

Programming in Python

Machine Learning

Natural Language Processing

AI Safety

Data Mining

Education

Master’s degree in Computer Science or related area

Job description

Research Associate, School of Computing.

The National University of Singapore invites applications for the position of Research Associate in the Department of Computer Science, School of Computing (SoC). SoC is strongly committed to research excellence in all its dimensions: searching for fundamental results and insights, developing novel computational solutions to a wide range of applications, building large-scale experimental systems and improving the well‑being of society. We seek to play an active role both internationally and locally in the core and emerging areas of Computer Science and Information Systems.

The Research Associate will work closely with the Principal Investigator and lab members on a research project developing trustworthy AI for psychological consultation. The project aims to build reliable AI therapist technologies by combining psychological principles, large language models, privacy‑preserving learning and safety‑aware system design.

Responsibilities

• Autonomous benchmarking and evaluation of AI therapist responses using computable criteria grounded in psychological principles, professional ethics and local regulatory expectations.
• Large language model training, fine‑tuning and evaluation for safe, empathetic and reliable psychological consultation support.
• Privacy‑preserving AI methods for sensitive user reflection data, including federated learning, differential privacy or related secure learning techniques.
• Safety‑aware inference systems, including real‑time monitoring of inappropriate AI responses and detection of high‑risk user language for escalation to human experts.
• Experimental design, statistical evaluation, dataset construction, system implementation and preparation of technical reports or research publications.

Requirements

• A Master’s degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Computing, Data Science, Information Systems or a closely related area.
• Strong programming ability in Python and experience with machine learning or large language model development.
• Experience with natural language processing, trustworthy AI, AI safety, privacy‑preserving machine learning, federated learning, data mining, human‑centered AI or related areas will be advantageous.
• Good analytical, communication and technical writing skills, with the ability to work collaboratively in an interdisciplinary research environment.

Location

Kent Ridge Campus.