Call for Founding Heads of R&D Laboratories - #2680318

*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.
• The opportunity to recruit and shape an international team of researchers, engineers, postdoctoral fellows and PhD candidates.
• Support for competitive grants, industrial partnerships, IP, licensing, spin-offs and public–private research programs.

Your Role as Founding Head

As the Head of an R&D Lab, you will design, establish, and lead one of the Institute’s core research laboratories. You will be responsible for defining the R&D plan for your lab: setting a long-term vision and short- and long-term goals; attracting world-class talent, delivering scientific and technological breakthroughs; and positioning the Institute as one of the world’s leading centers for AI research and innovation. With support from the Institute’s core support functions and engineering infrastructure, your responsibilities will include:

• Scientific and Strategic Leadership: Designing cutting-edge AI Research & Development programs and solutions, meeting milestones, and achieving defined success metrics. Monitoring AI advancements, identifying opportunities for high-impact innovation.
• Team Building: Leading a team of AI researchers and engineers to execute advanced research and develop practical software or platforms.
• Outreach: Collaborating with marketing and business development teams to promote AI4I, expanding its reach and influence.
• Revenue Generation: Attracting external funding from private and public sources to support the growth of your lab, including EU programs and strategic industry partnerships.
• Project Management: Managing multiple projects simultaneously, establishing schedules, and resolving bottlenecks to ensure smooth execution. Acting as an interface between the Institute and external partners and users.
• AI Assets Development: Overseeing the creation and maintenance of reusable frameworks, libraries, and APIs aligned with industry needs.

Key Success Metrics

Performance Will Be Assessed Through Annual And Multi-year KPIs Agreed During The Appointment And Aligned With The Approved Strategic Plan. Core Dimensions Include

• Scientific excellence: quality and visibility of peer-reviewed publications, invited contributions, benchmark adoption and international scientific positioning.
• Technology and reusable assets: TRL progression, reproducibility, prototype maturity, software, models, datasets, benchmarks, standards, patents and deployment readiness.
• Industrial and societal impact: validated use cases, pilots, partner retention, adoption evidence and measurable improvements in productivity, quality, resilience, safety or sustainability.
• Financial growth: competitive funding, industrial revenue, leverage beyond the initial endowment and credible licensing or spin-off opportunities.
• Leadership and management: team development, hiring, delivery on time and budget, risk management, governance and contribution to cross-Laboratory initiatives.

Candidate Profile

We Seek Leaders With

• Strong track record in AI research and development, with a deep understanding of methods and architectures.
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex, multidisciplinary R&D programs, from design to implementation.
• Ability to interact across academic, industrial, and institutional settings.
• Experience in applying AI in sectors such as advanced manufacturing, autonomous systems, human-machine interaction, or software development.

Preferred Qualifications

• A PhD in a relevant field.
• Previous leadership of a research group, Laboratory, center, major project or multidisciplinary program, both in public institutions or in centers for corporate R&D.
• Experience in European R&D programs, public–private consortia or industrial research partnerships.
• Ownership or development of patents, software, open-source projects, datasets, standards or other AI assets.
• Experience as a founder or co-founder, or a track record in technology transfer, licensing or venture creation.

How To Apply

Applications must be submitted exclusively through the online application form by December the 15th 2026, 11:59 PM CET.

Required Application Materials

• Curriculum Vitae: including a complete publication record or links to an authoritative publication profile.
• Motivation Letter: maximum 800 words, explaining the candidate’s motivation, fit with AI4I and ambition as a Founding Head.
• Strategic Plan for the proposed R&D Laboratory: prepared by completing the AI4I Strategic Plan & Onboarding Worksheet supplied with the call. Recommended length: 8–10 pages.
• Three academic or professional references: providing name, role, institution, email address and relationship to the applicant.
• Optional supporting material: selected patents, publications, project evidence, demonstrators and links to code, data or repositories such as GitHub or Hugging Face.

The Strategic Plan & Onboarding Worksheet asks candidates to provide evidence on: scientific and technical originality; industrial applicability and AI4I synergies; team-building; four-year budget and revenue plan; execution roadmap and milestones; software, data, infrastructure and equipment needs; durable Laboratory assets and deliverables; KPIs, risks and governance.

DOWNLOAD HERE: [The Strategic Plan & Onboarding Worksheet]

Note:Due to the high volume of applications, only candidates selected for further consideration will be contacted directly.