Research Engineer

JOB DESCRIPTION The Centre for Advanced Technologies in Online Safety (CATOS; was established in 2023 to host Singapore's Online Trust and Safety (OTS) Programme, a national research programme that leads the advancement of whole-of-nation technology capabilities to monitor and tackle online harms. The Systems Engineering Pillar of CATOS focuses on translational research and development, including evaluating, testing, and integrating research output into needle-moving applications. One of the major outcomes will be a technological platform with an integrated suite of deep tech OTS engines, which analyses various internet sites and platforms for fast-trending harmful online content, such as non-factual claims, deepfakes, and hateful and toxic content. Different combinations of OTS engines can then be integrated and adapted to address the specific requirements of various stakeholders.This role will be responsible for generating multilingual datasets to train and validate technologies, as well as contributing to impactful and quality research that utilises these technologies to address key challenges in the Online Trust and Safety space. The work will create valuable datasets that reflect Singapore's cultural and linguistic characteristics, enhancing the performance of our technologies. The research findings can inform end-users and technology researchers about better OTS practices and meaningful use cases and applications.The candidate will assume the following roles and responsibilities: As a Senior/ Research Engineer, contribute to the generation of datasets to train and validate the current suite of technologies, in collaboration with the Use Case team. Collaborate with senior team members, stakeholders, and cross-functional teams to contribute to research that leverages OTS technologies to address key challenges arising from the evolving landscape. Contribute to key CATOS events aimed at engaging researchers, industry partners, government agencies, NGOs, and the general public. JOB REQUIREMENT A Bachelor's / Master's degree in Computer Science / Information Technology / Computer Engineering / Information Systems / Data Engineering / Computational Social Science/ Societal Computing / Human Computer Interaction / Social Science or equivalent. Proficient with programming languages (e.g., Python, Java, C/C++, MATLAB) and tools. (e.g., Jupyter Notebook, VS Code) Experience with web servers (e.g., Apache), browser-based applications, and databases such as MySQL. Demonstrate experience in extracting social media data using an API. Demonstrate expertise in using platforms such as Amazon Mechanical Turk and/or Qualtrics, particularly in terms of technical troubleshooting. Good communication and interpersonal skills for working in a multicultural work environment. Our research and engineering work is highly interdisciplinary, agile, and pragmatic in nature. We expect everyone to take ownership of their role, responsibilities, and tasks.We encourage everyone to speak up when they have feedback or ideas for improvement.We provide honest feedback to one another, which can be tough at times, but it fosters rapid learning.We care about each other's professional growth and well-being.When applying, please share at least two representative research projects or publications that you have developed independently or contributed to significantly. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.The above eligibility criteria are not exhaustive. A*STAR may include additional selection criteria based on its prevailing recruitment policies. These policies may be amended from time to time without notice. We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.