Call for Founding Heads of R&D Laboratories

This opportunity is located in Turin, Italy.

The Italian Institute of Artificial Intelligence (AI4I) is seeking for talented and ambitious Heads of R&D Laboratories to lead the next generation of AI research and development in AI-driven industries

Lead the next generation of artificial intelligence research for industrial innovation.

The Italian Institute of Artificial Intelligence (AI4I) invites applications from outstanding, entrepreneurial and ambitious researchers to establish and lead new R&D Laboratories at the intersection of frontier artificial intelligence and industrial transformation. Founding Heads will define the scientific identity of their Laboratories, build internationally competitive teams, create reusable AI assets, and translate research excellence into industrial, technological and societal impact.

AI4I is seeking outstanding AI researchers and scientific leaders capable of making major, original contributions to frontier artificial intelligence and its industrial application. Candidates are invited to propose a distinctive R&D Laboratory, define its scientific identity and set out a credible four-year path from research excellence to reusable technological assets, industrial validation and impact.

About AI4I's R&D Laboratories

R&D Laboratories are the cornerstone of the Institute's scientific and technological architecture. Each Laboratory may focus on foundational AI methods, enabling platforms or application-driven domains and is expected to grow beyond its initial endowment by attracting competitive research funding, industrial collaborations and technology-transfer opportunities.

AI4I Laboratories operate at the convergence of frontier research and real-world validation, primarily across TRL 2–6. They are expected to produce internationally visible science while creating reusable software, models, datasets, benchmarks, prototypes, IP and industrial demonstrators. Collaboration and cross-fertilization across Laboratories are strongly encouraged.

Labs Are At The Centre Of An Articulated Organization

Collaboration: Collaboration and cross-fertilization between labs are strongly encouraged.
HPC & AI Supercomputing Resources: An extensive GPU-based accelerated computing facility and high-performance data infrastructure is available to support lab activities.
Engineering Support: A dedicated Engineering unit provides on-demand, specialized support in high-performance computing (HPC), software engineering, data engineering, and more.
The Institute for Advanced Study: The FCSP Institute of Advanced Study provides continuous interaction with leading academic and industrial AI organizations worldwide.
Academic Collaborations: Broad collaborations with universities and research institutions through joint research programmes, doctoral programmes and international grants.
Entrepreneurship: A "spin-off friendly" culture and relationships with investors, accelerators and the deep-tech ecosystem encourage entrepreneurial initiatives.
Business Development: Dedicated business development support facilitates industrial partnerships and access to European and national funding programmes.

What We Are Looking For

AI4I is looking for leading AI researchers with the ambition and scientific depth to make major contributions to frontier artificial intelligence and its industrial application. The call is open to distinctive proposals across the full spectrum of foundational methods, enabling technologies and application-driven domains, and candidates are invited to define the scientific direction they consider most original and consequential.

The Areas Of Particular Interest Are

AI for Operations, Optimization and Industrial Decision Systems
Domain Foundation Models, Multimodal Industrial AI and AI Resources
Agentic AI for Cyber-Physical System
Efficient Embodied AI, Edge AI, TinyML
AI for Materials Discovery, Automated Experimentation and Circularity
Digital Twins, Synthetic Data and Scientific-Industrial Simulation
Cognitive Security Technologies
Collective Intelligence and Collaborative Multi-Agent Systems
Human-Centered AI for Adaptive Human-Machine Collaboration

What We Offer

A renewable four-year appointment, with a pathway to a permanent position based on performance against agreed KPIs and targets.
Salary range: €70,000 - €120,000 + 25-35% MBO gross/year (depending on experience) and relocation support.
A start-up grant, with scope and phasing determined through the Laboratory's approved strategic and financial plan.
Potential tax exemption of up to 90% for eligible researchers relocating to Italy, subject to applicable law and individual eligibility.
Access to high-end computing, data, engineering, deployment and industrial co-design infrastructure