Career Opportunities

Part-time Research Assistant in the Division of Landscape Architecture

Grade: Senior Research Assistant/ Research Assistant I/ Research Assistant II (Master’s degree with 1 year’s post-qualification full-time working experience preferred)

The post is part-time (50% of full-time appointment) and will run for 12 months, with opportunity for extension depending on funding and project requirements.

Reports to: Dr Montira Unakul, Professor of Practice, Division of Landscape Architecture

Part-time Research Assistant in Geographic Information Systems for Historic Landscape Mapping, Division of Landscape Architecture, HKU

Summary of key qualifications

The candidate should have experience in mapping and analysis using GIS. Previous background background in heritage-related disciplines, including but not limited to archaeology, geography, architecture, conservation, landscape architecture is ideal.  The candidate should be able to conduct research related to remote sensing and digital approaches to heritage.

• MA in heritage, archaeology, geography, remote sensing or related discipline
• Experience in computational and/or digital approaches in heritage
• Experience in using relational databases
• Experience in remote sensing and archival research applied to heritage and landscape research

Summary of key skills

• Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in built and environmental heritage (ideally QGIS)
• PostGIS, PostgreSQL (or similar approaches to storing, indexing, and querying geospatial data)
• Content Management Systems (CMS) and web design

Description of project

The project - Mapping Historic Landscapes in Hong Kong in its Wider Context within the Greater Bay Area – works towards developing and testing a methodology to identify, characterise and recognise urban and rural historic landscapes of Hong Kong in its wider context. The project aims to make significant contributions to methodological approaches as well as to philosophical considerations in documenting historical and cultural landscapes. Once developed in the context of Hong Kong, it will be implementing a similar methodology in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), specifically in Macao SAR and Guangdong Province.

Description of duties

The postholder will undertake a number of activities to support the documentation, digitisation, mapping and open access dissemination of historical/heritage information collected during the project. The project will draw together different types of data from existing archives, monument records, remote-sensing, field surveys, and other research databases, to create a Historic Landscape  Record for selected areas of Hong Kong. The resulting datasets will reside in local multi-user GIS platform, and within an over-arching open access online geospatial inventory.

The Research Assistant will be part of a team of researchers based at HKU and other research centres in GBA, and will also interact with and be advised by senior technical mentors on the team.

The postholder will undertake a series of tasks, including desktop research using remote sensing and archival data; compiling geospatial database; working towards an open access dissemination and publication. They will be expected to lead the technical side of GIS and mapping exercise. The postholder will also provide intellectual design and logistical support of a series of planned workshops and other events across the region, as well as assessing the impact of project.

Duties and responsibilities

• Establish and maintain QGIS inventory and its online (PostGIS or similar) implementations.
• Maintain a public-facing repository, which may include a mechanism to integrate User-Generated Content.
• Undertake satellite image and aerial photographic research, as well as research in existing geospatial datasets, to explore site locations and identify possible new sites and linking these data to the QGIS inventory.
• Undertake research of published sources on Hong Kong’s history and archaeology; prepare annotated bibliographies.
• Undertake analysis and research on the heritage assets sites discovered/documented in terms of distribution, period, significance, and potential threats.
• Assist in training students, including undertaking field documentation projects.
• Assist in facilitating effective communication within the team and the large body of external partners engaged in the project across the region.
• Assist with the analysis of the data, preparing papers for publication on issues related to the region and/or the technical processes.
• Assist with the organisation and intellectual design of associated events, conferences, symposia, and workshops.
• Contribute to social and digital media communications regarding the project.
• Represent the project, including attending and presenting at conferences, workshops, and other events.

General

• Carry out any other duties within the scope, spirit and purpose of the job as requested by the line manager.
• This job description may be reviewed and be subject to amendment in consultation with the post holder.