Dr Robyn Tan is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies. She has a PhD in Development Policy and Management from the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester, UK.

Her research interests are broadly in the design and implementation of policies, programmes and interventions in real world policy and service settings. She has a keen interest in theory-driven evaluations, specifically, applying realist research to understand what works, for whom, under what conditions, and why. 

Robyn is an adjunct faculty with the Geriatric Education and Research Institute (GERI) where she is involved in implementation research of health services, with the aim of increasing the translation of research into practice. 

Prior to joining NUS, Robyn’s work in the social service sector focused on building the monitoring and evaluation capabilities of social service agencies. 

Research Interests

Theory-driven evaluation, theory of change, realist evaluation, implementation science, programme design, implementation and evaluation for social services and health services research, community engagement for policy design and implementation. 

Publications

• Tan, W.S., Nai, Z.L., Tan, H.T.R. et al. (2022). Protocol for a mixed-methods and multi-site assessment of the implementation process and outcomes of a new community-based frailty programme. BMC Geriatrics, 22, 586. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-022-03254-6
• Chan, E.Y., Wu, L.T., Ng, E.J.Y., Glass, G. F & Tan, H.T.R. (2022). Applying the RE-AIM framework to evaluate a holistic caregiver-centric hospital-to-home programme: a feasibility study on Carer Matters. BMC Health Services Research, 22, 933. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08317-3
• Tan, H.T.R & Neo, Y.W. (Eds.). (2021). COVID-19: Social impact and response. Singapore: Social Service Research Centre, NUS.
• Tan, H.T.R (2020). Why do we need realist evaluation? SSR, Snippet, Issue 1, February, Singapore: Social Service Research Centre. 
• Tan, H.T.R & Harvey, G. (2015). Unpacking the black box: A realist evaluation of performance management for social services”, Public Management Review, 18(10), pp. 1456-1478.

Op-eds/Commentaries

• Soon, C., Tan, R. & Gee, C. (2023, Mar 13). As employment anxieties grow, love your job but always have a Plan B. The Straits Times.

Conference Participation and Presentations/Speeches

• Presenter, “Adopting a realist approach to understanding family violence interventions” at the International Conference for Realist Research, Evaluation and Synthesis, 16-18 February 2021
• Presenter, “Implementation research: What it is and why should I care? At the TOUCH Family Conference, 28-29 April 2021.
• Presenter, “What works?: A theory-driven approach to evaluation” at the Singapore Health and Biomedical Congress (SHBC), Population Health Symposium, 10-12 October, 2019. 

Courses taught

• “Effective use of theory of change for social services”, Social Service Research Centre, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, NUS, 2023 – present. 
• “Realist evaluation for social services”, Social Service Research Centre, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, NUS, 2019 – present.
• “Implementation research for social services”, Social Service Research Centre, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, NUS, 2019 – present.
• “Advanced research and evaluation for social work”, Department of Social Work, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, NUS, 2019 – 2022.

Committees/Directorships

• Member, Community Foundation of Singapore, Programmes & Grants Committee.