The Max Planck–NTU Singapore Centre for Biocultural Worlding (CBCW) is seeking to appoint one Research Fellow (Curatorial Research and Practice) for a two-year term (renewable), based at the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore. The fellow will be embedded in an interdisciplinary environment, hybrid in nature, with the Centre operating between Singapore and Germany. As the CBCW functions as a space where artistic practice, legal inquiry, and diverse knowledge traditions converge to explore new forms of collaboration and stewardship of biocultural worlds, the Centre welcomes applications from candidates whose research interests align with the CBCW’s focus on biological, cultural, and epistemic diversity, and whose curatorial practice works relationally with, alongside, and across the situated, grounded initiatives of artistic experimentation, cultural practices and knowledge traditions, and disciplinary fields.

The fellow will conduct independent curatorial research on relevant biocultural worlding topics and forge mutual connections with other CBCW projects. From within the CBCW to public platforms, institutional partnerships, and interventions beyond academic boundaries and museological frameworks, the fellow(s) will advance the curatorial as a method to expand epistemic (and material) possibilities, and to develop protocols and toolkits for conducting research and collaboration.

Your responsibilities:

Research:

• Design and conduct an independent curatorial research project on intergenerational biocultural knowledge practices belonging to historically marginalised cultures and the efforts to recover and retain their agency over the longue durée; generate research outputs.
• Publish and deliver presentations on research findings; exchange research findings with collaborators without hindrance of individual constraints of language proficiency or geographic locality, in order to refine methodologies across history, art curation, science, culture, and law studies that reflect principles of equity and balance among biological, cultural, and epistemic diversity.

CBCW Public Programming:

• Contribute to the CBCW research program in the following ways:
  > Establish new museological and curatorial frameworks to develop new modes of sharing and presentation and to expand methods of archival research and fieldwork through cross-disciplinary approaches in documentary practice and art.
  > Devise a collaborative and experimental proof of concept for building mutual connections between the individual research project and other CBCW projects (e.g. assembling a constellated group around a shared inquiry).
• Raise the profile of CBCW research, and communicate with target groups (e.g. policymakers, enterprises, cultural leaders, and knowledge-holding communities).
• Support research and public programming of the CBCW (e.g. planning, preparation, and coordination of activities; preparing content for analog and digital research communication tools); contribute to, and participate in NTU CCA research activities and dialogues.
• Engage with CoHASS faculty members and the wider University community through reading groups, while facilitating cross-collaboration and inter-generational knowledge-sharing outside disciplinary bounds.

Required Qualifications:

Education:

• PhD degree in fields of curatorial studies, museum studies, visual anthropology, cultural studies, or other related humanities fields.

Research Expertise:

Knowledge of and practice in curatorial studies, contemporary art, visual culture, or art history, and relevant research methods.

Publication and Creative Projects Experience:

Outstanding publication achievements in relevant artistic journals and publications, and proven visibility in creative projects, whether international or locally specific.

Skills:

• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple tasks and deadlines. Proven ability to work independently and collaboratively in an international, interdisciplinary team.
• Excellent academic writing skills in English with high literacy of artistic and scientific vocabularies that extends beyond text-based forms of knowledge.

Other Desired Qualifications:

• Critically attuned to current curatorial and museological discourse and landscape.
• Familiarity with how injustices result from imbalances among biological, cultural, and epistemic diversity.
• Familiarity with, and research experience in Singapore and/or the Asia-Pacific region would be an asset.

Please submit your application on Workday, accompanied by the following supporting documents:

• Cover letter (one-page) and curriculum vitae, including list of publications, conference presentations, creative projects and exhibitions curated or participated in (in a single PDF).
• A two-page curatorial research proposal (excluding references and annexes) outlining:

> Proposed topic of the biocultural research.

> Methodology (specifying key collaborators and knowledge-holding communities)

> Description of activities and outcomes of the project.

> Elaboration on how the proposed research will augment the CBCW’s mission and vision.

• Scanned copies of qualifications (in a single PDF).
• Two letters of recommendation.

For any inquiries about the position, contact us at CBCW@ntu.edu.sg.

The deadline for the call has been extended to 15 October 2026.

We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

Hiring Institution: NTU