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

EurecatTechnology 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) — alighthouseEuropean project to develop foundation models for robotics

— and continue contributing toEurecat’srobotics 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: generativeAIischanging how robots perceive, decide, andacquirenew skills. Roboticsisnot 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 andsafehuman-robot collaboration in real industrial environments. This is aunique opportunity to work with some of the strongest robotics and AI groups in Europe on a project that aims to shape the future ofphysicalAI 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. Whatwill youwork on?

You will contribute to applied research and development in areas such as: Imitation learning, reinforcement learning, or related approaches for roboticmanipulation and mobile manipulationskill 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.

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📌 Applied Research Scientist in Robot Learning & Manipulation (Sardañola del Vallés)
🏢 Eurecat Technology Centre
📍 Sardañola del Vallés