Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Principal Investigator: Prof Zhao Cai)

University of Nottingham Ningbo China

Business School China

Salary

Minimum 269906 RMB per annum, pro-rata for part-time/short-term contract

Nottingham University Business School China Prof. Zhao Cais team is seeking outstanding Postdoctoral Research Fellow to join the postdoctoral research station in business administration for the development of University of Nottingham Ningbo China research agenda.

Your Responsibility

Your key responsibilities include:

• To formulate and articulate research objectives, alongside developing proposals for both individual and collaborative projects, utilizing established methodologies and techniques to execute research effectively within the specified area;
• To analyze data meticulously, interpret findings, evaluate scholarly texts, and contribute innovative insights, while adhering to project deadlines and collaborating seamlessly with team members and partners;
• To write up research work for publication and/or contribute to the dissemination at national/international conferences, resulting in successful research outputs;
• To identify opportunities and assist in writing bids for research grant applications;
• To build relationships with both internal and external contacts in order to exchange information, to form relationships for future collaborations and identify potential sources of funds and/or opportunities for collaboration.

About You

• The candidate must have obtained a PhD degree within 3 years and in the areas of digital healthcare, healthcare management, information systems, or other related areas;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English, including the ability to communicate with clarity on complex information. Excellent communication skills in Chinese is a plus.
• High analytical ability to analyse and illuminate data, interprets reports, evaluate and criticise texts and bring new insights.
• Ability to creatively apply relevant research approaches, models, techniques and methods.
• Ability to assess and organise resource requirements and deploy effectively.
• Ability to build relationships and collaborate with others, both internally and externally.
• Some practical experience of applying the specialist skills and approaches and techniques required for the role.

About Us

Join a unique British University in China. University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) was the first Sino-foreign university to open its doors in China. Located in Ningbo, this award winning campus offering a UK-style education has grown to establish a student body of over 10,000 in just 22 years.

About Postdoctoral research station in Business Administration.

Postdoctoral research station in Business Administration was approved to establish in Nov 2023. It is UNNCs first postdoctoral research station, and its founding deeply aligns with the national strategic needs in promoting talent cultivation and innovation as well as that of UNNC. UNNCs undergraduate programme of Business Administration was launched in 2004 and the doctoral programme in 2009. The subject has been listed among the worlds top academic subjects by Shanghai Ranking for four consecutive years. The discipline of Business Administration has also established teaching and research platforms at multiple levels and carried out in-depth industry university research cooperation with world renowned enterprises such as Microsoft and Amazon. In the future, UNNC will incorporate the development of the postdoctoral research station into the agenda of the university to provide talent support in efforts to promote scientific and technological innovation as well as economic and social development.

About the Research Team. Dr. Zhao Cai is a Professor in Information Systems and Executive Director of Nottingham China Health Institute at University of Nottingham Ningbo China. His research interests focus on digital supply chain management, platform competition, and digital health. Findings from his research have appeared in leading journals such as MIS Quarterly (MISQ), Journal of Operations Management (JOM), Journal of Academy of Marketing Science (JAMS), and Journal of Association for Information Systems (JAIS), among others. Dr. Cai serves as the Managing Editor of Industrial Management Data Systems (IMDS) and an Associate Editor for Internet Research (IR). Additionally, he has served as a Track Chair for the Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS), a Mini-track Chair of the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS), and an Associate Editor for the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) and the European Conference of Information Systems (ECIS). For details of Dr. Cai, please refer to the link: https://research.nottingham.edu.cn/en/persons/zhao-cai

Dr. Huiming Song joined UNNC to work in the accounting and Finance department in March 2016. Before joining UNNC, she accumulated more than 14 years work experience in accounting and finance sector. This includes 7 years in Ireland, where Dr Song had worked in the accounting firm (Moore Stephens international, Dublin office), as a supervisor in their corporate finance department. After that, Dr Song joined the bank of New York Mellon, Dublin office, working as a manager in the financial reporting department of Mutual fund. In year 2009, she returned to China and started my first CFO role in a Sino-USA joint venture based in Ningbo, after that she joined Alibaba global headquarter in Hangzhou, as a director in charge of the overseas and domestic MAs and post MA integration and Financial reporting. This experience promoted her to start a financial advisory career, she set up an international business department in BDO, specializing in assisting Chinese enterprises to do cross-border MAs and listing in overseas stock exchange. The above experience promoted me to do my current research on Chinese enterprises post Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisition integration. For details of Dr. Song, please refer to the link: https://research.nottingham.edu.cn/en/persons/huimin-song/

About the Project. This longitudinal project investigates the implementation of AI-empowered chronic disease management systems in hospitals. It examines human-AI collaboration and the boundaries of work between humans and algorithms across four key stakeholder groups: frontline healthcare workers, patients and family members, hospital administrators, and system developers. The project explores how clinical tasks are negotiated and delegated, addressing critical issues such as algorithmic trust, alert fatigue, professional autonomy, privacy concerns, and organizational integration. Adopting a mixed-methods approach with a strong emphasis on qualitative inquiry, the project combines in-depth interviews, ethnographic observation, and focus groups with longitudinal surveys and system log analysis. Notably, this project includes teaching case writing as a core component, with teaching cases to be developed and submitted to leading repositories, alongside journal publications in leading information systems or healthcare outlets.

Your Remuneration, Benefits and Support

You will be offered a fixed term contract with University of Nottingham Ningbo China for 2 years. You will be offered a minimum annual salary package of RMB269,906 with competitive benefits package. Postdoctoral Research Fellow is also able to apply RMB50,000 research funding after they start their research.

How to Apply

Applicants should submit an application via our on-line application system (via the 'Apply' button above) before 15 July 2026. Only on-line applications will be accepted. Referees will be contacted prior to interview and interviews will take place in Ningbo China.

Applications should include but are not limited to the following:

• A cover letter
• An up-to-update CV includes academic and research achievement list
• A Research proposal (Please refer to the attached project summary)

Enquiries

Informal enquiries regarding the research project may be addressed to Prof Zhao Cai Zhao.Cai@nottingham.edu.cn. If you are unable to apply on-line please contact the Human Resources Office, Tel: 86 574 88180000(Ext. 8854). 

Attachment: Job Description/Role Profile