Introduction

The Department of Communications and New Media (CNM) at the National University of Singapore is seeking a Research Fellow to join a project funded by the Online Trust and Safety (OTS) Research Programme. The project, "A Taxonomic Approach to Online Harm in Multilingual and Cross-cultural Spaces," develops Singapore-specific frameworks for characterising, classifying, and assessing online harm across cyberbullying, extremism, propaganda, and racist speech, with a particular focus on multilingual and multicultural digital environments.

Job Description

The Research Fellow will play a central role in the design and execution of the project's research programme, working closely with the Principal Investigator across all three work streams: taxonomy and topology development, benchmark corpus curation and annotation, and severity modelling and risk assessment. Phase 1 will involve structured literature review, meta-analysis, and taxonomy development. Phase 2 will involve corpus design, IRB applications, and annotator training and management. Phase 3 will involve data collection, annotation oversight, and inter-annotator reliability evaluation. Phase 4 will involve integration of findings into harm topologies and risk frameworks. Phase 5 will involve research communication including co-authorship of papers and project reports.

Job Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate structured literature reviews and meta-analyses across online harm categories relevant to the Singaporean context
• Develop and refine annotation codebooks and harm topology frameworks for cyberbullying, extremism, propaganda, and racist speech
• Manage and train bilingual and multilingual annotators; oversee pilot and confirmatory annotation phases with inter-annotator reliability monitoring
• Design and administer keyword elicitation surveys and user studies in compliance with IRB protocols
• Collaborate with technical team members on corpus design, data collection pipelines, and annotation quality assurance
• Lead the preparation of conference and journal submissions based on project findings
• Liaise with external collaborators at A*STAR (IHPC/CATOS, I2R) and coordinate data access agreements
• Prepare financial and progress reports, presentations, and other grant-related documentation
• Track expenditure and ensure spending remains aligned with project milestones

Qualifications

• Minimum PhD in Communication Studies, Linguistics, or a closely related field, with a promising publication record
• Experience in computational social science, NLP, or corpus linguistics is highly advantageous
• Familiarity with annotation methodologies, inter-annotator reliability metrics, and qualitative coding
• Knowledge of statistical analysis tools (R, SPSS, or equivalent)
• Proficiency in Mandarin or Malay would be beneficial/necessary to support engagement with research participants and stakeholders, as well as the sourcing of research materials in these languages.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and ability to work across disciplinary and institutional boundaries

We regret to inform that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

How to Apply

A full application should consist of the following: 

• cover letter, highlighting the applicant’s interest in the projects’ topics and commitment to diversity 
• full curriculum vitae, including the candidate’s academic history, relevant research experience (if any), and list of publications (if any)
• one academic writing sample (up to 25 pages)
• at least three (3) names for letters of recommendation, excluding PhD Supervisor. If the applicant is shortlisted, recommender(s) will be approached for their letter(s). 

Inquiries about the position may be directed to Dr Kokil Jaidka at jaidka@nus.edu.sg.