Job Description

RESEARCH FELLOW / RESEARCH ASSOCIATE (EPISTEMIC CULTURES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF CHRONIC ILLNESS IN SINGAPORE)

We are seeking a full-time (1.0 FTE) Research Fellow or Research Associate with strong skills in qualitative social science research to contribute to the Ministry of Education grant-funded project, Epistemic Cultures in the Management of Chronic Illness in Singapore, led by A/P Michael Dunn and Dr Eric Kerr.

The role is based at the Centre for Biomedical Ethics (CBmE) in the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore.

The appointment will be fixed term, for one year with the possibility of renewal up to 2 years.

The Epistemic Cultures project explores the experiences of patients living with chronic illness in Singapore, how they interpret information sources, form beliefs about their conditions, and weave management strategies into everyday life. We are particularly interested in how socially-mediated information sharing environments, ranging from clinical encounters to family relationships to patient support groups to digital platforms, shape patients’ understanding of their illnesses and how best to manage them.

The post-holder will work on the project’s empirical workstreams. This will involve a combination of methodologies including narrative interviews with patients (working closely with the Health Experiences Singapore research team in the Department of Family Medicine), surveys, and online discourse analysis. There is also the opportunity to get involved in translating empirical insights into the development and evaluation of new educational materials aimed at medical and health professional students.

Responsibilities

Key responsibilities include working with the research team to:

• Conduct semi-structured narrative interviews with adults with chronic illnesses and analyse interview data using thematic analysis.
• Coordinate recruitment of interview participants, including screening for eligibility.
• Prepare research ethics applications, amendments, and progress reports.
• Lead or contribute to drafting empirical and educational papers, reports, and conference presentations.
• Work independently and collaboratively to support the organisation of the project e.g. meetings and workshops.
• Support other aspects of the empirical studies within the project, depending on skills and experience.

Qualifications

• A Master’s degree or PhD in sociology, public health, health services research, psychology, anthropology, communication studies, bioethics or a related discipline. For appointment at Research Fellow level, a PhD will be required.
• Demonstrable experience with collecting and analysing qualitative data, especially using interviews.
• Capacity for writing high quality papers presenting novel research outputs. For appointment at Research Fellow level, evidence of sole or lead authorship of a peer-reviewed academic journal article will be required.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.
• Strong organisation and project management skills.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively within an interdisciplinary team.

Desirable

• Ability to set up and coordinate an online survey, including instrument development, liaison with survey providers, data cleaning, and analysis.
• Ability to support the collection and content analysis of online forum and social media data.
• Proficiency in computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (e.g. NVivo) and statistical software (e.g. R, SPSS, Stata)
• Ability to conduct interviews in another language spoken in Singapore (Mandarin, Malay, Tamil)

Appointment will be made either at the Research Fellow or Research Associate Level, depending on qualifications and experience.

Application

Please submit the following:

• Cover letter outlining your suitability for the role;
• Curriculum vitae, including contact details of three referees; and
• One writing sample.

Applications are welcomed on a rolling basis, but it is anticipated that an appointment will be made in November 2026. Short-listed candidates will be invited for interview.