Pros
Flexible working hours for me, although this is similar in the UK/Aus as well. This is also highly dependent on the PI. If you have a Singaporean PI, be prepared to work like a slave. People are mostly friendly and are helpful, but some people (PIs) have their nose up the sky when they walk and don’t say thanks when someone else opens the door on the way in/out.
Cons
Career There is no career progression in place and they mostly hire from outside to fill their “faculty PI position”, which is really outdated US system that promotes toxic competition. Research fellows are not allowed to apply for their own funding again becuz they are not “PI”. So what’s the point of doing a PhD or a research fellow at DukeNUS then if you are not allowed to get your own funding, co-supervise or supervise your own students at official capacity, and contribute to the uni and society, all of which are what research fellows should be exposed to as soon as they finish their PhD. Research environment Not very collaborative compared to some of other research centres I have worked in the UK/Aus. Common lab equipment not maintained very well, lab spaces are not maintained very well. Paints coming off the wall, mould spots on the ceiling tiles, no air pressure gauge on the wall, damaged spots everywhere on the lab vinyl floor. This is not that bad on Level 7 but shockingly bad on level 9 Emerging infectious diseases program. The building has dodgy and slow good lifts, and there are not enough (and badly designed) office spaces), which means some people are sitting/drinking in the lab with flip-flops. This is due to the fact that there is a giant hole in the middle of the building, silly/lazy design really. Not enough conference rooms and quiet rooms, and really bad AV infrastructure in these rooms with projectors and HDMI working less than half of the times, and are not ZOOM-capable thus screen sharing on half-ass HDMI-projectors. I find that the program retreat that I went (apparently this is compulsory) was a giant waste of a day. I saw PIs stroking each others ego all day long, food provided was ok, coffee served was horrendous. I instead went to Coffee Academic for a real cup of espresso. HR Slow as turtles. found a RAs through interview but this RA found an another job whilst waiting for DukeNUS HR and contract, UNBELIEVABLE. Others DukeNUS is located in SGH and is too far away from everything else. MRT/bus is on the outskirt of SGH, and no underground pass/shops from MRT into SGH either, what a planning eh. There is no decent cafeteria and food places around. Walking under the SG sun and humidity mid-day for lunch is just not pleasant at all. Claiming expenses (ie for conferences and travelling) and the process involved is just unnecessarily silly and protracted.