Job Description

The Department of Social Work invites applications for the position of a Postdoctoral Fellow / Research Associate to support the implementation and evaluation of Engaging and Empowering Hard-to-reach At-risk Youth in the Digital Era, a three-year project initiated and funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. Building on the strengths of the Youth Outreaching Teams (YOTs) subvented by the Social Welfare Department, the project will pilot new outreaching and intervention approaches with six NGO operators. It targets four groups of hard-to-reach at-risk youth whose risk patterns have changed in the digital era: youth from triad-affiliated families, youth exhibiting patterns of non-suicidal self-harm behaviours, girls at risk of involvement in the sex industry, and socially withdrawn youth.

Applicants should have (i) a PhD degree in Social Welfare or a related discipline (applicants with a Master's degree and four years post-qualification relevant research experience may be considered for appointment as Research Associate), preferably with experience in survey research, programme evaluation and statistical analysis, and (ii) the following attributes:

Values: Believing in the values of creating social good and social innovation having a commitment to supporting at-risk and marginalised youth and a commitment to ethical research practices, particularly in research involving vulnerable young people
Attitudes: Curious and innovative, eager to explore research methodologies collaborative and open to interdisciplinary teamwork with academic, NGO and community partners well-organised and able to manage multiple tasks and deadlines
Skills: Excellent command of both written and spoken English and Chinese (including Cantonese and Putonghua) advanced research skills, including survey design, data management and quantitative data analysis with statistical software (e.g. SPSS, Stata or R etc.) strong academic writing and presentation skills project administration and budget management skills and effective communication skills to translate complex research findings for diverse stakeholders
Knowledge: In-depth understanding of youth development, youth at risk and outreaching social work familiarity with social science research methodologies and evaluation frameworks for community-based projects.

The appointee will assist the Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator with the evaluation and administration of the project. Duties include (a) developing the data management system (b) conducting surveys (c) conducting data processing and analysis of the whole project, including the analysis of survey data with statistical software (d) generating ongoing evaluation statistics (e) administering the project and managing the budget (f) liaising with the funder and strategic partners from the social welfare sector (g) compiling interim and final project reports (h) drafting research manuscripts for presentation/publication in conferences/journals and (i) performing other tasks as assigned.

Appointment will initially be made on contract basis for two years, renewable subject to good performance, funding availability and mutual agreement. Review of applications will begin as soon as possible, and only shortlisted applicants will be notified.

The University only accepts and considers applications submitted online for the post above via the CUHK career site. For more information and to apply online, please visit .