Applied Research Scientist in Cognitive Robotics & Robot Reasoning
1 day ago
Barcelona
ppEurecat is the second Research Technology Organisation in Spain and one of the largest applied research and technology transfer organisation in Southern Europe. It brings together the experience of more than 800 professionals who generate an annual turnover of 69 million euros and provides services to more than 2,000 companies. Eurecat integrates advanced digital capabilities and experience in biotechnology, industry and sustainability and collaborates with industry in R+D+I activities and projects, offering advanced scientific and technological services and specialized knowledge to respond effectively to the technological needs of very different business sectors, accelerating innovation, reducing both risks and spendings on scientific and technological infrastructures. The technology center participates in more than 200 large national and international consortium projects of high strategic RI, has 230 patents and 10 spin-offs. Eurecat has eleven centers in Catalonia and presence in Madrid, Malaga and Chile. /p pAre you excited about building the next generation of robots that can understand situations, reason about goals, deliberate under uncertainty, and act in the physical world? /p pThe Cognitive Robotics Group within the Robotics and Automation Unit at Eurecat Technology Centre is looking for an Applied Research Scientist in Cognitive Robotics and Robot Reasoning. /p pbYou will work on GRAIL (Grant Agreement No. ) - a flagship European /b bproject /b developing foundation models for robotics - and continue contributing to Eurecat's cognitive robotics roadmap beyond the project. This is a permanent research position. /p pWe are looking for someone with PhD-level research maturity - either through a completed PhD or equivalent research experience - and hands‑on experience applying AI/ML, reasoning, planning, or foundation-model methods to robotic systems. /p pbWhy this role matters /b /p pRobotics is entering a new phase: generative AI and foundation models are changing how robots perceive, interpret, decide, and acquire new capabilities. But robotics is not only language. Robots need grounded reasoning, spatial and semantic world understanding, memory, uncertainty handling, safety, and a reliable connection between deliberation and physical action. /p pIn this role, you will help bridge that gap: turning advanced AI methods into cognitive robotic capabilities for task reasoning, situational grounding, world modelling, and decision‑making in real industrial and semi‑structured environments. /p pThis is a unique opportunity to work with some of the strongest robotics and AI groups in Europe on a project that aims to shape the future of physical AI and industrial automation. If you want your research to move beyond papers and benchmarks into real robotic systems that reason, explain, adapt, and act, this is the kind of opportunity you should not miss. /p pbWhat you will work on /b /p pYou will contribute to applied research and development in areas such as: /p ul liRobot reasoning, deliberation, task planning, and decision‑making for embodied agents operating under uncertainty. /li liFoundation models for robotics, including multimodal models that connect language, vision, knowledge, memory, scene understanding, and action‑relevant representations. /li liDesign and implementation of new robotics‑oriented AI architectures and agentic systems, combining foundation models with planners, memory, tool use, world models, verifiers, simulators, and robot‑action interfaces. /li liGrounding of reasoning in the physical world: object and scene understanding, affordances, spatial/semantic context, task constraints, human instructions, and feedback from real robot execution. /li liPredictive world models, simulation‑supported reasoning, data‑driven adaptation, and methods that help robots generalise across tasks, environments, objects, and platforms. /li liScientific publications, project deliverables, demonstrations, and collaboration with European partners from robotics, AI, industry, and human‑centred technology. /li /ul pYou will not be working only on isolated academic benchmarks or language‑only prototypes. The role involves developing ideas, implementing them, testing them with robotic systems and realistic tasks, and adapting them to practical constraints. /p h3Requirements /h3 pbWhat we are looking for /b /p pWe do not expect you to match every keyword. We are looking for depth, curiosity, and the ability to turn research ideas into working cognitive robotic systems. /p ul liPhD in Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Computer Vision, Cognitive Systems, Automated Planning, or a related field; or equivalent research experience. /li liStrong background in machine learning, deep learning, symbolic/neural reasoning, planning, or foundation models applied to robotics or embodied AI. /li liHands‑on experience designing, training, fine‑tuning, or adapting AI model architectures for robotics or embodied AI, including implementation choices around data, losses, evaluation, and deployment - not only API use or prompt engineering. /li liExperience connecting perception, language, knowledge representations, planning, decision‑making, and action in embodied or robotic systems. /li liStrong programming skills in Python. /li liAbility to work with real robotic systems, experimental platforms, or realistic robotic demonstrators - not only offline datasets or simulation. /li liScientific and technical maturity: ability to define problems, test hypotheses, analyse results, integrate components, and communicate findings clearly. /li liGood written and spoken English. /li /ul pbHighly valuable /b /p ul liExperience with LLMs, VLMs, multimodal foundation models, transformers, neuro‑symbolic methods, task and motion planning, hierarchical planning, memory architectures, or uncertainty‑aware reasoning. /li liExperience with end‑to‑end model development and training pipelines for robotics foundation models or agentic systems: multimodal data curation, pre‑training or fine‑tuning, PEFT/LoRA, synthetic or simulation data, ablations, benchmarking, and real‑robot validation. /li liExperience with ROS/ROS 2. /li liExperience with PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX, or similar frameworks. /li liExperience with semantic or 3D scene understanding, affordance modelling, world models, simulation, manipulation‑aware reasoning, human‑robot interaction, or human instruction following. /li liPublications, open‑source contributions, project demos, or research prototypes in cognitive robotics, robot reasoning, embodied AI, foundation models for robotics, or robot learning. /li liExperience in European or collaborative RD projects. /li /ul pbThis role is probably a good fit if... /b /p ul liYou have worked on AI methods that help robots understand a situation, reason about what to do, explain or justify decisions, adapt to new contexts, or connect high‑level goals to physical action. /li liYou enjoy both research and implementation. /li liYou are comfortable moving between papers, code, experiments, robots, datasets, simulations, and project discussions. /li liYou want to work in applied research: scientifically ambitious, but connected to real systems, demonstrators, and industrial impact. /li liYou are attracted by the opportunity to contribute to a European flagship effort in robotics foundation models, with a strong focus on reasoning, grounding, and trustworthy embodied intelligence. /li /ul pbThis role is probably not the best fit if your main experience is limited to... /b /p ul liGeneric LLM chatbot development without robotics, embodiment, planning, or grounding in the physical world. /li liLanguage‑only evaluation or prompt engineering with no connection to robot perception, action, or decision‑making. /li liPure navigation, PLC programming, or classical control with no AI, reasoning, or robot‑learning component. /li liSimulation‑only research with no interest in deploying, validating, or adapting methods on real robotic systems. /li liSoftware front‑end or general AI engineering unrelated to physical robotic systems. /li /ul pbWhat Eurecat offers /b /p pEurecat is a leading technology centre in Catalonia, working at the intersection of research, technology transfer, and industrial innovation. /p pIn our Robotics and Automation Unit, the Cognitive Robotics Group develops applied research in robot cognition, reasoning, behaviour, perception, human‑robot interaction, autonomous systems, manipulation‑aware intelligence, and foundation models for robotics. /p pYou will join a team with strong experience in European projects, industrial collaborations, and real robotic demonstrators. Our laboratory is located in Cerdanyola del Valles, near Barcelona, within a growing robotics and AI ecosystem. /p pAdditionally, you will have these benefits : /p ul liPermanent contract. /li liShorter workday on Fridays and summer schedule. /li liFlexible compensation package: health insurance, transport, lunch vouchers, training, kindergarten, and other benefits. /li liAccess to Eurecat Academy courses. /li liLanguage training in English, Catalan, and Spanish. /li liParticipation in a major European robotics and AI project with leading academic and industrial partners. /li liThe opportunity to build long‑term research lines in cognitive robotics and robot reasoning beyond a single project. /li /ul /p #J-18808-Ljbffr
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