Job Description

The Urban Analytics Lab, a geospatial and urban data science research group at the National University of Singapore (NUS), a leading global university centered in Asia, is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to join the team and spearhead a variety of research activities within our agenda. The Research Fellow will also contribute to the management of the group and other tasks such as preparation of proposals, co-supervision of junior researchers, and administration.

The successful applicant in this senior role will be engaged on some of our novel research lines on GeoAI, GIScience, VGI, and digital twins, namely: investigation of the potential and integration of emerging urban data sources (e.g. 3D city models, street view imagery), initiating new means of processing, benchmarking and quality assessment of data and workflows, invention of new methodologies to maximise the value of urban data, and/or developing new use cases and studies pertaining to building/urban/geospatial data infrastructure in the context of smart cities and sustainability. Positioned at the intersection of academia, industry, international organisations and government, the nature of the work is computational and practical.

The Research Fellow will be supervised by the Principal Investigator of the Lab - Dr Filip Biljecki, NUS College of Design and Engineering.
Candidates should have strong computational skills and a PhD degree in computer science, geographical information science, geomatics, mechanical engineering, or another relevant field of study, with a demonstrated track record in their career so far (in terms of publications/impact and/or other forms of output such as development of code, open datasets, and outreach).
The Lab will provide a motivating, conducive, and flexible environment that enables to explore the Research Fellow\'s interests and build skills required for future career steps. Our current and former members have secured meaningful and significant placements in the continuation of their academic career, including faculty positions, and have published dozens of impactful papers in leading journals.

Scope and responsibilities

Your key responsibilities will be:

• Conducting and leading research activities.
• Development of code, and/or software prototypes and related solutions to support the research.
• Collaboration with other researchers, research groups, and coordination of activities/projects.
• Exploring new research directions and experimenting with new datasets, methodologies, and technologies.
• Leading and assisting with the preparation of funding proposals.
• Assisting the PI in various activities in the research group and project such as supervision/mentorship of research staff and students (e.g. PhD researchers), management, and outreach.
• Preparation of publications and managing other forms of research output such as software and data.
• Presentation of the research.

Our offer

• You will be working on compelling research activities at the forefront of geographical information science and urban data science in a unique research group that is gaining a strong momentum in Singapore and globally. Further, we collaborate with other research groups at NUS, which often leads to multidisciplinary efforts, exposing you to new topics.
• You will advance your research and transferable skills required for the next stage of your career. You will be welcome to explore and learn new tools and technologies, expand your current skillset, and gain potentially new experience such as funding applications and management that may be critical for your next career step (e.g. faculty position).
• You will be involved in steering the direction of our research group, participate in discussions continuously revisiting and enhancing our research agenda, and take a leadership role in one of the managerial tasks.
• You will work in a research and educational environment where you may not only contribute to your own development, but also to others, e.g. by supervising master theses that may arise as part of the research and by advising PhD researchers.
• Opportunity to make impactful contributions in the field, on globally relevant and growing topics.
• Visibility and exposure of your work.
• Expansion of your network through potential contact with academic, industrial, and governmental partners, both locally and internationally.
• A diverse, inclusive, friendly, and flexible working environment.
• Flexibility to explore new ideas and an opportunity to experiment with the state of the art.

Remuneration

The remuneration will be determined according to the university\'s salary range depending on the degree, experience, and output so far. The estimated monthly salary including allowances and overheads is in the range of SGD 6300 to 7200. The income tax in Singapore for this range is about 5%, without taking possible deductions into account.

Duration and location

The position will be filled when a suitable candidate is found, and will start preferably within the next 2-3 months.

The appointment is for one year, with a probation period of 3 months. The contract can be extended for a further period subject to performance.

This full-time job is based in Singapore. This is not a remote position. We offer flexible working arrangements similar to most academic environments (e.g. no strict office hours and the possibility to spend a portion of time working from home).

Further information

The full text of the ad with contact information and more information about the research group is available at

Job Requirements

A strong interest in GIScience and GeoAI, together with proactivity, initiative, ownership, and continuous learning aspirations, is key to this position. The candidate is expected to continue their journey to grow into a leading scientist in the field.

You should demonstrate that you possess:

• A PhD degree in a related discipline from a reputable university. Current PhD candidates are eligible to apply as well, provided that they are in the final stage of their studies A strong interest in GIScience and GeoAI, together with proactivity, initiative, ownership, and continuous learning aspirations, is key to this position. The candidate is expected to continue their journey to grow into a leading scientist in the field.

You should demonstrate that you possess:

• A PhD degree in a related discipline from a reputable university. Current PhD candidates are eligible to apply as well, provided that they are in the final stage of their studies and that their PhD degree will be completed before the start of the appointment (preferably within the next few months).
• A publication record with demonstrated impact, writing skills, and a strong aptitude to publish. We expect at least one recent first-authored paper in a journal of interest (e.g. the ones we tend to publish in) or more depending on the years of experience so far.
• Ability to identify research gaps and conceptualise research plans and methods to address them.
• Proficiency in one or more of the following areas: GIScience, urban data science, computer science, game engines, Geomatics, remote sensing (in the urban/built environment), 3D city modelling / BIM, computer vision / deep learning, urban planning, and/or urban simulations. We do not expect applicants to be proficient in all the topics we work on, however, we ask them to demonstrate that they have a momentum in at least one of the related topics, have aptitude to expand their expertise beyond their main focus, have affinity with our research agenda, and have solid ideas how to continue their research aspirations.
• Very good communication skills in English (oral and written), and an ability to present research in both academic and non-academic venues.
• Solid experience with programming (e.g. in Python, R, and/or C++), as much of our research is computational. Having built software used by others and/or scientific software experience is a plus. We will prioritise applicants who can demonstrate these qualities through a Github profile or similar evidence.
• Proficiency with (i) general academic tools such as LaTeX; (ii) geospatial tools such as ArcGIS/QGIS; and (3) plotting libraries such as ggplot or matplotlib.
• An ability to (co-)supervise others (e.g. students and junior researchers).
• Curiosity and passion to explore new concepts, methods and technologies, and capability of identifying and quickly learning the most suitable tools for the research on the go.
• A positive and proactive stance on open science, preferably with demonstrated activities such as using and developing open-source software, releasing data as open data, and promoting reproducible research.

More Information

Location: Kent Ridge Campus
Organization: College of Design and Engineering
Department : Architecture
Employee Referral Eligible: No
Job requisition ID : 19696

Times Higher Education