Postdoc in the field of Urban Studies, STS and Critical Infrastructure Studies (SPACE project)

Job offer posted on 27 September 2022

The CNRS@CREATE project SPACE & Singapore Management University is recruiting 1 post-doc (18 months) in the field of Urban Studies, Science and Technology Studies and Critical Infrastructure Studies with a strong interest in Socio-Technical Networks (such as wastewater, drainage and sanitation) for a research project focusing on sanitary risks mitigation and environmental infectious diseases (such as dengue and the covid epidemy in particular) related to flows of wastewater, drainage and waste in Singapore.

The SPACE project is developing a research protocol for infectious disease prediction and prevention in Singapore. The project draws upon analyses of the risk factors and sociospatial patterns that drive dengue and COVID-19 transmission in Singapore, as well as the social and technical skills developed by individuals and community groups in response to disease propagation. Combining insight from the social sciences (geography, architecture and urban design, communication, economics, sociology, public policy) with biology (epidemiology, entomology) and computer science (artificial intelligence, biostatistics), the project will use the concept of “adaptive capacity” (AC) to explore the potential of community-based “latent social capital” (i.e. human, cultural, political, and social) as key assets for adaptive responses to health challenges related to dengue in its interplay with COVID-19.

The project brings together 23 researchers, 10 from France and 13 from five Singaporean universities (NTU, NUS, SUTD, SMU and SUSS). The research will be conducted in several residential areas of Singapore.

Read more about the SPACE project here.

The candidate will be joining a working group at SMU on public policy analysis of disease mitigation, daily maintenance of the built environment, perception of risk and actors’ behaviors with the aim of refining an epidemic prediction model and providing policy recommendations to build the communities’ adaptive capacity.

The candidate will be in charge of i) surveying the flows of wastewater, drains and waste from the place of generation, collection and their evacuation until their place of treatment, and potential re-use and recycling. For each stage of the chain, the risks and remedies associated to infectious diseases shall be evaluated; ii) contribute to feed the prediction model with empirical observations on socio-technical networks maintenance and management in order to improve the adaptive capacity of related stakeholders ; iii) compile a critical literature review on socio-technical networks, sanitation management, sanitary risks and epidemic controls in Singapore; and iv) communicate to the coordination team through monthly reports, and write academic articles in peer-review journals

Context

The redesigning of cities can be an effective strategy for controlling infectious diseases, as exemplified by the cholera epidemics of the mid-19th century in Europe (Frioux, 2017). Singapore is strongly committed to developing a healthy city policy, having achieved some of the highest standards in the world for living conditions and the quality of health care. In many respects, Singapore is approaching the hygienic ideal of the sanitary city, notably thanks to the implementation of a reticular infrastructure to control the infectious risks associated with urban waste. These socio-technical networks differ in their technicality according to the nature of the effluents (solid – dry and putrescible waste – or liquid – sewage and black water) but respond to the same centripetal dynamic of planned collection and evacuation to centralised treatment centres (sanitation plants; composting, recycling, incineration). As a reference model since the 19th century, renewed by the debates on the smart city of which Singapore is the incarnation, this infrastructural model remains by nature a critical entry point for infectious vectors throughout the different stages of flow control (collection/evacuation/treatment), both with respect to the populations and spaces that generate them as well as to the socio-technical systems that channel and treat them.

Nevertheless, the city-state remains exposed to regular outbreaks of infectious diseases – a challenge that is likely to intensify with climate change. Many experts agree that populations must be prepared to live with infectious diseases because of the interrelations between infection agents and climate change. To achieve sustainable responses to health challenges, it is critical that local communities and urban stakeholders be regarded as active players in the production of knowledge, surveillance, and responses to epidemics.

In this context, the project “Shaping Public Adaptive Capacity For Environmental Infectious Diseases” builds on the premise to develop a dynamic, adaptive approach to urban sustainability. The project draws upon analyses of the risk factors and socio-spatial patterns that drive dengue transmission in Singapore, as well as the social and technical skills developed by individuals and social groups in response to disease propagation. The program uses the concept of adaptive capacity (AC) to explore the potential of community based latent social capital (i.e. human cultural, political and social) as key assets for adaptive responses to health challenges. Acquiring knowledge on the adaptive capacity of urban stakeholders and communities is crucial to improve the predictive power of epidemiological models, as well as to understand the processes that give rise to the concentration of health risk factors in specific locations.

Within this framework, our critical research aims to understand in a practical way when infectious risks emerge, challenging the infrastructural paradigm, and how it can be improved. To this end, based on six selected neighbourhoods, we propose to understand waste flows from their generation (with surveys of the effluent generators – the everyday practices of the inhabitants), to their disposal (with a focus on the daily management and maintenance of the systems – the routine of sanitation employees during their work) and their treatment (by considering the effects and risks induced around the treatment sites – the infrastructural spaces).  Theoretically, this research makes it possible to go beyond the dominant infrastructural paradigms to propose a new innovative model for which Singapore could be the symbol.

The candidate will be in charge of developing and implementing a research project focusing on sanitary risks mitigation and environmental infectious diseases (such as dengue and the covid epidemic in particular) related to flows of wastewater, drainage and waste in the city of Singapore.

This includes:

• Mapping the political economy of sanitation regime in Singapore;
• Analyzing multilevel governance of related sociotechnical networks;
• Modeling the geography of sanitation flows from collection to treatment through an analysis of four neighborhoods;
• Evaluating the risks of infectious diseases and associated remedies to sanitation management, infrastructure maintenance and behaviour of users;
• Feeding the prediction model with empirical observations and analysis in order to enrich the concept of Adaptive Capacity of related stakeholders
• Compiling a critical literature review on sanitation management, sanitary risks and epidemic controls in Singapore;
• Submitting monthly reports to the supervising team;
• Writing academic articles in peer-review journals.

Required education and skills

• PhD in Urban Studies, STS, Critical infrastructures Studies, Geography or a related field;
• Understanding of network urbanism, technical networks and urban development theories;
• Conducting autonomous research in coordination with supervising team;
• Experience with Asian countries;
• Excellent writing skills and abilities to publish academic articles;
• Knowledge with GIS and cartographic tools;
• Strong communication and organizational skills and enjoy working in a team-oriented environment;
• Good English skills are required, Asian languages appreciated

The position is available starting 1^st of March 2023 and for a duration of up to 18 months. The position will be mainly based in Singapore

Salary range: 6,000-7,200 Singapore Dollars (depending on suitability and experience)

Benefits: as a full-time employee, you will be eligible for the benefits that CNRS@CREATE offers.

Further

Workplace Address: CREATE Tower (NUS Campus), 1 Create Way #08-01 Singapore 138602

Please send a short cover letter describing your suitability for the position, detailed CV with publication list, a concise description of research interests and future plans, and academic transcripts to :

• Rémi de Bercegol (CNRS) : remi.debercegol@cnrs.fr
• Orlando Woods (SMU) : orlandowoods@smu.edu.sg
• Frédéric Landy (Université Paris Nanterre) : landy.frederic@parisnanterre.fr

View this job offer on My Careers Future website here.