Call for Founding Heads of R&D Labs

Employer: AI4I

Location: Turin (IT)

Salary: Commensurate with education and experience

Closing date: Jan 31, 2026

Discipline: Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Computer Sciences, Engineering

Job Type: Academic Dean/Dept. Head

Organization Type: Academia

Job Details

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

We welcome applications from researchers working across a wide range of AI domains – including Symbolic, Generative, Agentic, and Physical AI – as well as frontier research areas such as causality, neuro-symbolic AI, self-supervised learning, and AI for scientific discovery, who are keen to explore frontier questions and drive transformational applications at scale. We are eager to receive proposals to establish R&D Laboratories in areas such as, among others, Reasoning & Planning, Edge Intelligence, Advanced Computer Vision, Synthetic Data, Human Machine Interfaces, and Controls (cf. below).

Our R&D Labs operate at the convergence of foundational research and real-world deployment (TRL 2 to TRL 6). They support short- and long-term innovation across strategic application domains, including manufacturing, robotics, engineering, product development, software development and testing, autonomous and decision systems, and new material discovery.

Location: AI4I, OGR, Turin, Italy

Hybrid work: Flexible arrangements can be negotiated.

Deadline: January 31, 2026, 11:59 PM CET

About Our R&D Labs

R&D Labs are the cornerstone of the Institute’s organizational structure. Each Lab may focus on either foundational AI methods or application-driven domains and is designed to expand well beyond its core endowment by attracting industrial collaborations and competitive research funding.

What We Offer

• A renewable 4-year appointment, with a pathway to a permanent position based on performance (KPIs and Targets).
• An internationally competitive compensation package, enhanced by substantial incentive schemes, ensuring outstanding take-home pay considering the combination of cost of living and dedicated tax benefits.
• A start-up grant comparable in scale to an ERC Starting Grant, directly managed by the Lab Head.
• Tax exemption of up to 90% for eligible researchers relocating to Italy.
• Relocation package for national and international candidates.

Your Role: Head of R&D Lab

Key Success Metrics

Qualifications We Are Looking For

Preferred Qualifications

How to Apply

Submit your application exclusively through the online form by January 31, 2026, 11:59 PM CET:

• CV
• Motivation letter (max. 800 words)
• Scientific and Technological Plan for the Lab (max. 2,000 words) including: ...
• Optional: Patents, publications, or code repository (e.g. GitHub) links.