Singapore, Singapore · On-site
About the Programme The Trans-Asian Material Histories of Architecture and Conservation programme examines how building materials, craft practices, construction techniques, contractors, commercial agents, craftsmen, and …
Skills: Archival Research, Fieldwork, Built-Investigation, Material Science, Digital Humanities
Sign up with Clera and we'll reach out the moment a role actually fits you — no more spraying applications into the void.
Conduct original research on material histories of architecture and conservation across China and Southeast Asia. Produce high-quality scholarly outputs and contribute to data infrastructure and grant development.
Requires a PhD in architectural history, conservation, or a related field with a strong record of research output. Candidates must provide a research proposal aligned with one of the four specified research clusters.
About the Programme
The Trans-Asian Material Histories of Architecture and Conservation programme examines how building materials, craft practices, construction techniques, contractors, commercial agents, craftsmen, and architectural ideas circulated across China, Singapore, and Southeast Asian port-city networks from the early nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth. Its intellectual position is that architectural modernity and conservation value in Southeast Asia were produced not by one-way importation from Europe or China, but through multi-directional material circulations among port cities, diasporic communities, colonial administrations, merchants, craftsmen, contractors, and local users.
Materials are treated as evidence of architectural knowledge, cultural translation, diaspora, technology transfer, and conservation value — not as a neutral substrate awaiting stylistic decoration. The programme’s empirical work feeds directly into the international conservation-theory debate framed by the Nara Document on Authenticity (1994) and the Nara+30 framework (2024). It is organised into four research clusters, and the candidate will join an inaugural team that already includes a doctoral researcher and a research fellow.
Central research question. How did building materials and construction knowledge circulate across China and Southeast Asia, and how did these circulations reshape architectural form, craft practice, conservation value, and regional identity?
The Four Research Clusters
Applications are welcome to any one of the following clusters. Candidates should identify the cluster their proposed work would anchor and may indicate secondary cross-cluster contributions.
Role and Responsibilities
The Research Fellow will pursue an independent but programme-aligned research agenda within their chosen cluster, contributing to the programme’s collective output and collaborative life. Responsibilities include:
Qualifications and Requirements
What We Offer
How to Apply
Applicants should submit a single PDF containing the following:
Nurturing SUTD's Innovators and Entrepreneurs
We nurture future innovators and entrepreneurs through curated programs, incubation support, venture partnerships, mentors, and funding.
Offices: 8 Somapah Road, Singapore, Singapore 487372, SG
Nurturing SUTD's Innovators and Entrepreneurs
We nurture future innovators and entrepreneurs through curated programs, incubation support, venture partnerships, mentors, and funding.
Offices: 8 Somapah Road, Singapore, Singapore 487372, SG