Permanent position | Robotics & AI | GRAIL European flagship project | Barcelona area | Hybrid work
Are you excited about building the next generation of robots that can learn, adapt, and act in the physical world?
The Robotics and Automation Unit at Eurecat Technology Centre is looking for an Applied Research Scientist in Robot Learning and Manipulation.
This is a permanent research position. You will work on GRAIL (Grant Agreement No. 101298421) — a lighthouse European project to develop foundation models for robotics — and continue contributing to Eurecat’s robotics roadmap beyond the project. GRAIL is aligned with the European push to develop trustworthy generative AI and foundation models for robotics, including real-world validation on robotic hardware and industrial use cases.
We 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 methods to real robotic systems.
Why this role matters?
Robotics is entering a new phase: generative AI is changing how robots perceive, decide, and acquire new skills. Robotics is not just about language. Robots must deal with contact, uncertainty, limited data, hardware constraints, safety, and the messy complexity of the physical world.
In this role, you will help bridge that gap: turning advanced AI methods into robust robotic capabilities for manipulation and safe human-robot collaboration in real industrial environments.
This 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, this is the kind of opportunity you should not miss.
What will you work on?
You will contribute to applied research and development in areas such as:
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Imitation learning, reinforcement learning, or related approaches for robotic manipulation and mobile manipulation skill acquisition.
- Foundation models for robotics, including multimodal and vision-language-action approaches, that can generalise across tasks, objects, environments, or robotic platforms.
- Integration and validation of AI methods on real robotic systems.
- Human-robot collaboration and manipulation in industrial or semi-structured environments.
- Scientific publications, project deliverables, demonstrations, and collaboration with European partners.
You will work on both simulations and real-world robotic systems, going beyond isolated academic benchmarks. The role focuses on developing innovative ideas, implementing them, testing them on real robots, and refining them to meet practical constraints.
