Dr Brendan Ch’ng Hien Wee

Dr Brendan Ch’ng Hien Wee

  • Senior Lecturer
Department of Educational Development and Innovation
  • School of Education
SDGs Focus

Biography

Dr Brendan Ch'ng is a Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for the postgraduate research programmes at the School of Education. He received his PhD in educational psychology from the University of Malaya (Malaysia) and he also holds a Master of Education specialising in Gifted Education from Monash University (Australia). 

His academic work focuses on the intersection of individual differences, student well-being, giftedness and talent development, and the internationalisation of higher education. Specifically, he is interested in research that examines how psychological and environmental factors shape student development and outcomes across diverse educational contexts.

Dr. Ch'ng also currently serves as a Council Member of the Malaysian Psychological Association (PSIMA), Vice-Chairperson of the Malaysia Educational Psychology Society (MEPS), and Executive Committee Member of ABRIR (Advancing Big-team Reproducible Science through Increased Representation), an international initiative promoting open science and reproducible research practices.

He welcomes postgraduate research students interested in pursuing Master’s or PhD research in educational psychology, gifted education, student well-being, and higher education studies.
 

Academic & Professional Qualifications

  • PhD (Educational Psychology), University of Malaya, Malaysia (2023)
  • Master of Education specialising in Gifted Education, Monash University, Australia (2013)
  • Bachelor of Arts, Monash University Malaysia, Malaysia (2011)

Research Interests

  • Psychology of the gifted child
  • Psychological well-being & mental health in higher education contexts
  • Environmental sensitivity
  • Internationalisation of higher education

Teaching Areas

  • Education for the gifted and talented
  • Quantitative research methodology

Notable Publications

  1. Blackburn, A. M., Han, H., Gelpí, R. A., Stöckli, S., Jeftić, A., Ch'ng, B., Koszałkowska, K., Lacko, D., Milfont, T. L., Lee, Y., COVIDiSTRESS II Consortium, & Vestergren, S. (2023). Mediation analysis of conspiratorial thinking and anti-expert sentiments on vaccine willingness. Health Psychology, 42(4), 235–246. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0001268
  2. Blackburn, A. M., Vestergren, S., Tran, T. P., Stöckli, S., Griffin, S. M., … Ch’ng, B., … Zoletic, E., & the COVIDiSTRESS II Consortium (2022). COVIDiSTRESS diverse dataset on psychological and behavioural outcomes one year into the COVID-19 pandemic. Scientific Data, 9(1), 331. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01383-6
  3. Ch'ng, B., Mariani M. N., & Loh, S. C. (2022). Psychological flourishing of postgraduate students in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Jurnal Psikologi Malaysia, 36(1), 163-179. https://spaj.ukm.my/ppppm/jpm/article/view/685
  4. Lieberoth, A., Lin, S.-Y., Stöckli, S., Han, H., Kowal, M., Gelpi, R., ... Ch'ng, B., … Belaus, A., & Dubrov, D. (2021). Stress and worry in the 2020 coronavirus pandemic: relationships to trust and compliance with preventive measures across 48 countries in the COVIDiSTRESS global survey. Royal Society Open Science, 8(2), 200589. https://doi.org/doi:10.1098/rsos.200589
  5. Yamada, Y., Ćepulić, D.-B., Coll-Martín, T., Debove, S., Gautreau, G., … Ch’ng, B., … Lieberoth, A., & COVIDiSTRESS Global Survey Consortium (2021). COVIDiSTRESS Global Survey dataset on psychological and behavioural consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak. Scientific Data, 8(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-00784-9
  6. Ch’ng, B. (2014). Affective curriculum for gifted students in Malaysia: A recommendation. Journal for the Education of the Young Scientist and Giftedness, 2(2), 11-21. https://doi.org/10.17478/JEYSG.201429017
  7. Phan, L. H., Kho. J., Chng, B. (2013). Nation building, English as an international language, medium of instruction, and language debate: Malaysia and possible ways forward. Journal of International and Comparative Education, 2(2), 58-71. https://doi.org/10.14425/00.50.27
     

Achievements & Accolades

  1. Open Science for and from the Majority World: Expanding Knowledge and Building New Networks
    Duration: 15 May 2025 - 1 Dec 2025
    Grant: USD 14,090 (awarded by the Open Research Community Accelerator (ORCA): Open Scholarship Catalytic Awards Program)
  2. Advancing Big-team Reproducible science through Increased Representation (ABRIR): Towards more diverse and inclusive open psychological sciences
    Duration: Feb 2024 – Dec 2024
    Funding: USD 4,850 (awarded by the Open Research Funders Group (ORFG): Open Scholarship Seed Awards)
     

Professional Associations

2023 – current    American Psychological Association (International Affiliate Member)

2023 – current    Advancing Big-team Reproducible Science through Increased Representation (ABRIR; serving as a member of the Working Committee)

2022 – current    Malaysia Educational Psychology Society (Full Member)

2019 – current    Malaysian Psychological Association (PSIMA Registered Psychologist Member)