Research Fellow (Communication)

The DesCartes Programme (Work Package 7) is looking for a Research Fellow in Communication to examine public perceptions, expectations, and communication of AI systems.
A collaboration between Nanyang Technological University and CNRS@CREATE, the DesCartes programme aims to develop a hybrid AI system, combining Learning, Knowledge and Reasoning, which has good properties (need for less resources and data, security, robustness, fairness, respect for privacy, ethics), and demonstrated on industrial applications of the smart city (digital energy, monitoring of structures, air traffic control).
The programme brings together 80 permanent researchers (half from France, half from Singapore), with the support of large industrial groups (Thales SG, EDF SG, ESI group, CETIM Matcor, ARIA etc.).
The research will take place mainly in Singapore, at the premises of NTU's Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and CNRS@CREATE, with a competitive salary and generous funding for missions.
Read more about the DesCartes program here.
Work Package 7 (WP7) focuses on the ways in which AI is embedded in, shaped by, and responds to societies and their diverse cultures, values, and environments. WP7 adopts an integrative contextualised approach and incorporates social &
legal concerns on fairness &
privacy in AI technology design to generate comprehensive and fresh human-centred frameworks and guidelines to ensure positive societal and cultural take-up and impact. WP7 aims to provide recommendations to promote effective ways for communicating &
collaborating about AI systems and increase AI literacy.
As a highly interdisciplinary project, DesCartes will include communication researchers who will observe, document, and analyse the science and engineering processes. They will adopt a cross-cultural approach combining study of Singaporean contexts and social implications of the technology used in DesCartes to provide a better understanding of public perceptions (fears, anxieties, desires) and expectations of AI to develop citizen-centred communication frameworks.
Key Responsibilities:

• To engage in conducting literature searches and manuscript preparation within the Descartes project.
• To engage in survey conceptualization and design.
• To conduct statistical analyses with survey data.
• To contribute to research publications and presentations.
• To write progress report and final research report.
• To engage in the dissemination of the results of the research with the support of and under the supervision of the Principal Investigator.
• To carry out administrative work associated with the program of research.
• To organize and facilitate intra-Descartes meetings and discussions.
• To communicate observations and findings to Descartes project as necessary.

Job Requirements:

• Ph.D. degree in communication (preferred), psychology, sociology, or a social science related discipline.
• Strong foundation in survey research and analytical skills (e.G., SPSS, MPLUS, or R).
• Fluent in written and spoken English.
• A team player in a project setting, also with the ability to work independently in a multi-cultural team environment.
• Must demonstrate initiative and good interpersonal communication skills.
• An internationally recognized research track record as evidenced by journal publications and conference presentations.

Successful candidate will be working directly with Prof Shirley Ho from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at NTU.
We regret to inform that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.
Hiring Institution:
NTU