Postdoctoral Scholar

at  BERKELEY EDUCATION ALLIANCE FOR RESEARCH IN SINGAPORE LIMITED

JOB SUMMARY:

We have an open postdoctoral position (aka research fellow) located in Singapore under June Lo (NUS), Hui Zhang (UC Berkeley) and Stefano Schiavon (UC Berkeley) supervision. The Postdoctoral Scholar position is for a candidate that obtained (or is in the process of obtaining) their doctoral degree.
The candidates will work within the HEATS project. HEATS – Heat Exposure, Activity, and Sleep - is a three-year, multi-institutional project that focuses on improving sleep outcomes for people exposed to heat. Funded by the Singapore National Research Foundation and commencing in January 2024, the project will develop technological and behavioral solutions to minimize heat exposure for improved sleep. The project is structured as three distinct and complementary components:
1) continuous monitoring of working-age persons over several months to study the effect of heat exposure on sleep,
2) develop and evaluate novel bedroom and worker dormitories cooling solutions, and
3) deploy and test personalized smartphone nudging strategies to improve sleep environments.
This position focuses on the aim to develop and evaluate a novel bedroom and dorm cooling solutions. This position relates to developing air conditioning and fan control logic to improve sleep quality and testing its effectiveness. This new technology will use a combination of inputs of thermoregulatory parameters, near-body thermal environments (measured by wearable devices), and environmental conditions (measured by IoT devices) to optimize bedroom temperatures and minimize air conditioning energy use. Its effectiveness will be evaluated based on changes in polysomnographically assessed sleep parameters, as well as daytime performance.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• The candidate should hold a Ph.D. or Doctor of Sciences Degree with a focus in Engineering, or Architecture, or Sleep science.
• Knowledge in thermoregulation, sleep, and cognitive performance, as well as skills in built environment performance and occupant analysis or simulation are recommended.
• Data processing and analysis proficiency using R or Python or similar software is recommended.
• A demonstrated interest and experience in conducting human subjects research in related areas is required.
• Skills in the development of control strategies are recommended.
• A track record of peer-reviewed publications is recommended.
  The candidate will work in Singapore at BEARS, a UC Berkeley center for research, graduate education, and innovation in Singapore. The salary will be commensurate with experience. All appointments are for an initial period of one year with the possibility of renewal. Applicants should apply v ia the link ( https://goo.gl/forms/Cz6DedCN7EC1etVJ3) (you need a Gmail account). There, they should upload a cover letter describing their research experience and interests, a curriculum vitae, the names and contact information (including e-mail addresses) for three references.
  The project team is comprised of experts from University of California, Berkeley, the National University of Singapore, and The University of Sydney. The expertise of the 6-member team includes thermal physiology, sleep, indoor environmental quality, thermal comfort, and machine learning. The Principal Investigators are Stefano Schiavon (UC Berkeley) and Jason Kai Wei Lee (NUS). Co-Investigators include June Chi Yan Lo (NUS), Clayton Miller (NUS), Thomas Parkinson (The University of Sydney), and Hui Zhang (UC Berkeley).

• Developing the air conditioning and fan control logic and implementing it in a lab-based study
• Preparing ethics applications and related documents
• Running the experiments and processing and analyzing the polysomnographic and neurobehavioural performance data
• Leading the development and writing of research publications
• Preparing and sharing research findings with various stakeholders
• Assisting with any other duties of a similar nature that are delegated by the supervisors.