Research Fellow (Built Environment & Behaviour) - NUS Cities

National University of Singapore; Singapore; On-site; SGD 60,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

National University of Singapore (NUS) Cities hosts a multidisciplinary team within the College of Design and Engineering, supporting education, research, and advisory services. The Cities Foresight Lab explores urban planning, governance, and strategic insight through qualitative and quantitative methods.

The CA-ACM project investigates how Singapore's built environment influences daily activities and active living, with a focus on identifying features that shape behavior and health outcomes.

Qualifications

• PhD in Architecture, Urban Planning, Sociology or related field.
• Strong qualitative research skills with independent study design.
• Ability to integrate qualitative, quantitative, and geospatial findings.
• Experience collaborating in interdisciplinary teams and with government or partners.
• Experience with NVivo or similar software preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead the full qualitative research process, including study design, fieldwork, analysis, and interpretation.
• Develop and refine the framework for evaluating community assets and attractiveness to different groups.
• Lead qualitative studies and contribute to surveys to validate archetypes and activity chains.
• Collaborate with researchers in geospatial analysis, urban analytics, and data science to align research questions.
• Publish findings in academic venues and contribute to policy-oriented reports and presentations.
• Coordinate qualitative research activities and provide guidance to team members.

Skills

Qualitative research

Survey design

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Writing & communication

Education

PhD in Architecture/Urban Studies/Public Health

Tools

NVivo

GIS software

Job description

Company description

The National University of Singapore is the national research university of Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest higher education institution in Singapore

Job Description

NUS Cities is a university-wide, interdisciplinary entity hosted within the College of Design and Engineering, serving as an open and inclusive collaborative platform spanning Education, Research, and Advisory Services. The Cities Foresight Lab (CFL) is a growing multi-disciplinary research group at NUS Cities, operating at the intersection of urban planning, governance, and strategic insight.

The Community Assets and Activity Chain Modelling (CA-ACM) project is a research study commissioned by the Health Promotion Board to investigate how Singapore's built environment shapes residents' daily activities and lifestyle patterns. The project aims to identify features of the built environment that make active living intuitive and natural; develop composite indicators to measure and rank the attractiveness of different urban settings for various population groups; and uncover how these environmental features influence the type of physical activities people choose to engage in. The project brings together experts in urban studies, data science, public health, and social science research to surface evidence-based insights and design strategies that promote more active living.

We seek a motivated and talented Research Fellow or Research Assistant to lead the project's qualitative research and connect its qualitative, quantitative, and geospatial workstreams. The successful candidate should bring strong domain knowledge of the relationships between the built environment, human behaviour, and community life. Depending on experience and appointment level, the candidate may also take on broader project leadership responsibilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead the full qualitative research process, including study design, selection of appropriate qualitative and mixed methods, fieldwork, analysis, and interpretation.
• Apply knowledge of the built environment and human behaviour to develop and refine the framework for evaluating community assets and their attractiveness to different population groups.
• Lead qualitative studies and contribute to the design and interpretation of surveys to validate and refine initial archetypes and activity chains derived from big-data modelling.
• Collaborate with researchers in geospatial analysis, urban analytics, and data science to align research questions and synthesise qualitative, quantitative, and spatial findings.
• Publish research findings in academic journals, present at local and international conferences, and contribute to reports and presentations for policy and practitioner audiences.
• Coordinate qualitative research activities, contribute to project reporting and stakeholder engagement, and provide guidance and constructive feedback to team members where appropriate.

Qualifications

• For appointment as Research Fellow: a PhD in a relevant field. Relevant fields may include Architecture, Urban Planning/Studies, Human Geography, Sociology, Anthropology, Public Health, Environmental or Behavioural Psychology, Social Policy, Community Development, and related disciplines.
• Strong domain knowledge in one or more of the following areas: environmental behaviour studies, built environment and health, urban sociology, community asset evaluation, urban analytics, active living, everyday behaviour, or community life.
• Strong and demonstrable experience in qualitative research, with the ability to independently plan, conduct, analyse, and communicate research involving human participants. Relevant analytical approaches may include thematic analysis, grounded theory, content analysis, or other systematic methods.
• Ability to understand and critically interpret quantitative, survey, geospatial, and activity-modelling findings, and to integrate evidence across research workstreams.
• Experience working in interdisciplinary research teams, engaging communities, and collaborating with government agencies or other partners. Familiarity with Singapore's built environment, communities, or public-sector context is advantageous.
• Evidence of strong research, analytical, writing, and communication skills, with the ability to convey complex findings to academic, policy, and practitioner audiences.
• Excellent project management and organisational skills, with the ability to coordinate research activities, report to multiple stakeholders, and work independently and collaboratively in a dynamic research environment.
• Preferred: Experience using NVivo or similar qualitative data analysis software to manage, code, analyse, and synthesise qualitative data from interviews, focus groups, observations, and other qualitative research sources.