Postdoctoral/Research Fellowship at the Asia Research Institute (NurseTracs)
The Asia Research Institute (ARI), National University of Singapore (NUS), invites applications for ONE Postdoctoral/Research Fellow to join the NurseTracs project team.
The successful applicant is expected to commence duties at NUS in August 2026, and no later than October 2026.
Research Project: Tracing Nurse Trajectories: Multinational Migration Amid Global Competition (NurseTracs)
As global migration patterns become increasingly complex, social scientists face growing pressures to make sense of migrants’ long-term trajectories. Research has shown how people can move to multiple countries throughout their lives, challenging a long-held belief that migration involves only a single origin and destination. Yet, scholars have also been limited to framing multinational trajectories as an individual experience – a result of the resources, aspirations, and circumstances of migrants themselves. Largely missing is the question of how other actors and institutions can shape migrants’ multinational pathways. This project shifts scholarly attention to how different actors move people across multiple borders, channelling migrants toward some places and drawing them away from others. We aim to examine how global competition over migrant skills defines people’s multinational trajectories. Specifically, we seek to determine how governments, recruitment agencies, and employers compete to direct migrants to and from specific destinations, reshaping their trajectories across time. We focus on the case of migrant nurses, a healthcare profession projected to face severe labour shortages in the coming decade (WHO 2023). We also centre our study on the movement of Filipinos, the largest nationality group among migrant nurses. We ask: How have nurse migration trajectories diversified over time amid a growing competition for healthcare labour? How have state institutions, commercial agencies, and employers sought to influence nurses’ migration trajectories? How might nurses alter their migration trajectories in relation to changing state policies, workplace incentives, and recruitment strategies?
The project brings together an interdisciplinary team of scholars from sociology, geography, nursing and implementation science. With over a decade of experience in studying healthcare workers and health systems, the research team has built strong connections in major source countries like the Philippines and established destinations like Singapore. We will implement a mixed-method research design that includes a survey of nurses’ international trajectories, in-depth interviews with different actors competing for nurses’ labour, and a digital story completion method that determines how nurses respond to changing state policies, employer incentives, and recruitment strategies. This project is original because it examines what scholars have called the “middle space” of international migration, where different actors compete to direct migrants toward specific destinations, often at the expense of other nations in need of such labour. This middle space has been relatively understudied in research on migrant trajectories, despite their key role in shaping people’s international pathways. While existing studies show how individual nations recruit migrant workers to address local needs, they do not explain how the recruitment strategies of different destination countries can impact each other. This project fills a crucial gap by examining how migration trajectories reveal an ecosystem of actors competing to shape migrants’ mobilities. In terms of broader impact, this study will be the first to quantitatively trace the diverse global trajectories of migrant nurses, providing valuable information on the nations that migrant nurses pass through, the time they spend in each place, and how their migration patterns might shift in response to recruitment strategies or policy change. Determining their diverse trajectories will have important implications for health policies in aging societies like Singapore, where nurse labour shortages continue to be a pressing issue. The project’s findings will also play a pivotal role in shaping ongoing debates on global disparities in human resources for health. The project is funded by the Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund Tier 2.
The successful applicant will be hosted in the ARI Migration and Mobilities Cluster and will work with Prof Brenda Yeoh (co-Investigator) and an interdisciplinary NurseTracs project team (PI: A/Prof Yasmin Ortiga, SMU; Co-Is: Prof Brenda Yeoh, NUS; A/Prof Elaine Lum, Duke-NUS Medical School, and A/Prof Shawn Goh, SIT).
Job Description
- Conduct qualitative interviews [primarily with state officials, brokers,hospital administrators, and nursing school owners] and manage field work;
- Perform rigorous analyses of data using NVivo;
- Present research work at international and domestic conferences; and
- Joint authorship of publications in high-impact peer-reviewed journals.
- Other than working on the research project, appointed Research Fellows will also have opportunities to be involved in organising project meetings, workshops and webinars, applying for grant funding, and participating in current cluster projects.
Requirements
Postdoctoral/Research Fellow will conduct interviews and manage fieldwork primarily in Singapore. Applicants are expected to fulfil the following criteria:
- Hold a PhD degree (or awaiting conferment) in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities, preferably in Social Geography, Sociology, Anthropology or Migration Studies;
- Knowledge and expertise in using NVivo;
- Show evidence of a demonstrated research interest in the themes of the project;
- Demonstrate potential in developing a record of publication in high-impact peer-reviewed journals;
- Exhibit a high level of competence and flair in written and spoken communication and in academic writing;
- Possess strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work collaboratively in an inter-disciplinary team;
- Knowledge of Singaporean nursing contexts will be an advantage.
Terms of Employment
The appointment will be for a period of one year. An all-inclusive, fixed monthly salary of S$6000-S$6500 (depending on experience). This all-in sum is inclusive of stipends for housing and living expenses.
Travel assistance will be provided for successful applicants from overseas. Singapore citizens and permanent residents are eligible for central provident fund benefits. All salary and benefit-in-kind are subjected to taxation in accordance with local tax laws.
There is support for project-related research fieldwork and conference attendance (subject to approval).
Research staff at ARI should participate actively in research activities including attendance at seminars, conferences and ARI social events.
Application Process
To apply for this position, please combine the following documents in 1 PDF and attach it under the CV column when submitting your application:
- Curriculum vitae
- A cover letter, of no more than 800 words, explaining the applicant’s past research experience and aptitude in relation to the research project
- Transcripts
- One writing sample (not exceeding 8000 words)
Interested candidates, please submit your application by 30 April 2026.
Only shortlisted applicants will be notified. Shortlisted applicants may be called for interview in-person/by zoom. The interview will take place in May 2026.
Please submit your application via the following links:
External Candidates:
Internal Candidates:
https://hcm44.sapsf.com/sf/jobreq?jobId=32182&company=nationalunP2