Research Assistant, Hcc

What the role is
The National Heritage Board of Singapore (NHB) is recruiting a Research Assistant for a 2-year research project focused on developing Sustainable Collections Care in Tropical Climate Building Environments, led by the Heritage Conservation Centre (HCC). HCC is an institution under NHB with a purpose-built facility for the storage and conservation of all artworks and artefacts in Singapore’s National Collection.

The research project seeks to develop a decision model and simulation tool to guide Singapore heritage and cultural institutions on how to set their Collection environments to reduce the associated carbon footprint while ensuring the preservation of the Collections. The project aims to utilise a digital simulation and modelling approach to guide decision-making process on environmental settings and optimisation of collections care in buildings where the National Collection and archives are stored or displayed. Research will focus on developing a digital simulation model to test options for indoor environmental settings and compare the outcomes in terms of energy consumption, its possible negative impact(s) on the collection, and the ambient comfort in both public and working environments.

The project requires highly collaborative and well-coordinated teamwork among the various key stakeholders from the public sector of Singapore, including but not limited to HCC specialists and the NHB Facility Management teams in charge of environmental management for selected museums and collection storage buildings. HCC will also collaborate with several partners from the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) sector in Singapore. Additionally, the project will partner with established local research institutes, specifically to develop the modelling and simulation work. Local and international experts and service providers will also be involved, especially to help characterise the aging behaviour of materials found in the collection.

The incumbent will be located at the HCC and will report directly to the Project Conservation Scientist from the Conservation Science Section of HCC. He/she will support the scientific investigation developed from a material science perspective that is required to quantify the negative impacts induced on the collection when exposed to various ranges of temperature and relative humidity conditions. He/she will also assist the Conservation Scientist to collect, process and interpret outdoor and indoor environmental data as needed.

What you will be working on
- Sample preparation for the materials investigation of physico-chemical properties upon degradation within predetermined environmental exposure parameters (time, temperature, relative humidity, UV-Vis light) in simulation chamber with controlled conditions. The materials will be selected to best represent the National Collection, and the experiments will be conducted under the supervision of the Project Conservation Scientist.
- May assist and execute experimental design and perform benchwork with samples analysis for collection of scientific data as guided by the Project Conservation Scientist.
- Collect the environmental data recorded by the various institutions involved and process them as needed and as guided by the Project Conservation Scientist
- Perform the experimental data documentation and data processing guided by the scope of the research project, while working under the supervision of the Project Conservation Scientist. Prepare content for report and meeting presentation as needed.
- Track and document the financial flow associated with experimental work of the project, conducted at HCC conservation science laboratory.
- Assist and support the research Project Manager in procurement procedures and documentation according to the institutional guidelines. Liaise with vendors as needed.
- Assist and support HCC’s preventive conservation specialists in collection assessment and documentation.
- Assist and support Conservation Science Lab Manager in lab maintenance and equipment management: preventive maintenance, procurement of spare parts, standards, and calibration.

What we are looking for
- Preferably 3 years of professional experience in analytical laboratory.
- Possess analytical skills in terms of materials science, relevant to the project and mainly applicable to investigated materials.
- Able to show initiative and resourcefulness in analytical problems within the work frame of conservation science.
- Able to display good manual dexterity, technical aptitude, and problem-solving skills in previous work.
- Able to systematically record, measure, monitor, process data and properly document the experiments.
- Able to analyse, process and interpret scientific data, prepare technical reports, and communicate results to Project Conservation Scientist.
- E xperienced working with chemicals or operating instrumentation like light microscopes, grinder, SEM-EDS, Raman, FTIR and GC/MS is advan