SD-26149-LEAD R&T SCIENTIST - AI-ENABLED LOCAL DIGITAL TWINS

Belval, Luxembourg | Permanent contract (CDI) | Full-time

Are you passionate about research? So are we! Come and join us

The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) is a leading Research and Technology Organization (RTO) that drives innovation for the economy and society in Luxembourg and beyond. With cutting-edge expertise in Natural, Built, Industrial environments, Space, AI, Security and defence technologies. LIST bridges scientific excellence and applied research to design solutions that address real-world challenges and create positive impact.

Do you want to know more about LIST? Check our website: https://www.list.lu/

How will you contribute?

You will join the AI Readiness and Assessment (AIRA) group within the Human-centered AI, Data and Software (HANDS) unit as lead researcher for its activities on AI-enabled Local Digital Twins (LDT). Local Digital Twins are becoming the operational backbone of the European smart-city agenda: they bring together real-time urban data, 3D and geospatial models, simulation and artificial intelligence so that cities and communities can anticipate, decide and act. Your mission is to make AI use cases in cities work in a fully compliant, interoperable and sovereign manner, building on European data-space technologies, open standards and shared governance. You will do so across the whole innovation chain, from mid-TRL research to high-TRL development and deployment with public actors.

You will be mainly in charge of:

• Overseeing the group's project portfolio in the field of Smart Cities, Local Digital Twins and Data Spaces, taking scientific and technical responsibility for their results. Acting as Principal Investigator and/or Work-Package leader on specific projects within the domain.
• Supporting the group leader in the definition and the periodic update of the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (STRIA) in the field of AI-enabled Local Digital Twins: framing the underpinning research questions, identifying target calls and projects, specifying the outcome assets to be built and reused, mapping and growing the required team capabilities, and setting the roadmaps, milestones and impact criteria against which progress is measured.
• Collaborating across LIST units and groups to federate efforts, competences and assets, and on that basis defining and driving the scientific and technological roadmap for AI-enabled Local Digital Twins: digital twin architectures and reference implementations, semantic interoperability and common data models, real-time data integration, urban simulation, and AI/ML services applied to urban data. These activities would be carried out under the umbrella of a Community of Practice on Digital Twins, which the candidate may animate.
• Ensuring that the solutions designed are compliant by design with the European regulatory and policy framework (AI Act, GDPR, Data Act, Data Governance Act, INSPIRE Spatial Data, Interoperable Europe Act) and that they strengthen interoperability, openness and digital sovereignty.
• Animating, mentoring and organizing the work of a multidisciplinary team of research engineers and scientists active in the field, supervising or co-supervising doctoral candidates and less experienced researchers, and growing the team's collective expertise.
• Managing a portfolio of national and European projects: project plans, budgets, consortium relations, quality of deliverables and results, proactive follow-up and reporting of progress and risks.
• Seeking and acquiring new funding: identifying calls and opportunities (Horizon Europe, Digital Europe Programme, Interreg, FNR national programmes, public and private research collaborations), building consortia and writing competitive proposals as coordinator, Principal Investigator or work-package leader.
• Co-representing LIST in the key national and European initiatives and governance bodies of the field - among others the EDIC on Local Digital Twins (EDIC-LDT), Open & Agile Smart Cities (OASC), the Living-in.EU movement, and the relevant data-space and standardization communities - and converting that presence into collaborations, visibility and new RDI opportunities.
• Supporting, at national level, the Smart City Innovation Accelerator that LIST is bringing forward, and making it deliver tangible outcomes for Luxembourg's cities, municipal syndicates and communities: AI and data readiness assessments, co-defined and prioritized use cases, operational pilots and demonstrators running on real urban data, reusable reference architectures and open building blocks that can be transferred from one municipality to the next, capacity building and training for municipal staff, and evidence-based guidance feeding local decision-making and national policy - with an explicit path from experimentation to sustained operational uptake.
• Collaborating with R&T engineers and technology profiles to transform scientific results into proofs of concept, prototypes and software solutions, and contributing to invention disclosures, licences or spin-off creation where relevant.
• Producing high-impact scientific output: publishing in top-tier peer-reviewed journals and in the flagship international conferences of the field, with the ambition of positioning LIST at the core of the international research community on AI-enabled Local Digital Twins; reviewing the scientific production of less experienced scientists; and communicating results effectively to the RDI community, to public decision-makers and to wider society, including through the organization of workshops, special issues and conference sessions.
• Acting as a LIST ambassador, respecting and applying LIST-HSE rules as well as ethical and research-integrity standards, and educating younger colleagues accordingly.

Is Your profile described below? Are you our future colleague? Apply now!

Education

• PhD in Computer Science, Information and Communication Technologies, Applied Mathematics, Geomatics / Geoinformatics, Urban Systems Engineering or a closely related discipline. A habilitation (HDR) or an equivalent recognition of scientific seniority is considered an asset.

Experience and skills

• Experience: at least 8 years of research and innovation experience after the PhD (or equivalent), with a demonstrated track record in smart cities, digital twins, urban data platforms or data spaces.
• Track record (mandatory for career level L07): having defined, submitted and acquired at least one RDI project; having successfully managed, coordinated and completed RDI projects; and having successfully (co-)supervised doctoral candidates or less experienced researchers (postdocs, engineers).
• In addition, at least one of the following: participation in an invention disclosure or licence; participation in the creation of a spin-off; a significant number of publications in indexed scientific journals or ISBN-indexed books; or being a nominated expert in national or international fora (e.g. EU, OECD).
• Scientific output: a strong and sustained publication record in top-tier peer-reviewed journals and flagship international conferences relevant to the field (smart cities and urban computing, IoT and cyber-physical systems, digital twins and simulation, geoinformation, and applied AI), with a clear ambition to keep publishing at that level. Editorial duties, programme-committee membership, keynote or invited talks and the organisation of scientific events are strong assets.
• Local Digital Twins: recognized expertise in digital twin architectures for cities and territories, and in several of the following: 3D city models and geospatial data (CityGML, IFC/BIM, OGC standards), real-time IoT data integration (NGSI-LD, FIWARE, Smart Data Models), urban simulation and modelling (mobility, energy, environment, climate resilience).
• Data Spaces and sovereignty: solid knowledge of European data-space technology and governance - IDS / Gaia-X building blocks, Eclipse Dataspace Components, SIMPL, trust and data-sovereignty frameworks, and the Minimal Interoperability Mechanisms (MIMs) promoted by OASC.
• Artificial Intelligence: proven ability to design and deploy AI/ML solutions on heterogeneous urban data (spatio-temporal modelling, forecasting, computer vision, optimization, generative and agentic approaches), together with an understanding of trustworthy and compliant AI practice.
• Engineering and delivery: sound software and systems engineering practice (cloud and edge deployment, APIs, microservices, open source, MLOps) and the ability to steer engineering teams towards mid-to-high-TRL, operationally usable outcomes.
• Funding and project management: demonstrated success in acquiring and coordinating competitive funding and strong knowledge of project management practice.
• Ecosystem: experience of working with public authorities, cities, municipal syndicates or ministries, and active participation in European smart-city or digital-twin networks, is a strong asset.
• Soft skills: scientific leadership and the ability to animate and mentor a multidisciplinary team; excellent communication skills towards both the scientific community and non-technical decision-makers; strategic, entrepreneurial and autonomous mindset; diplomacy and networking ability to represent the institute in national and European bodies; strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituencies.

Language skills

• Fluency in English, both oral and written, is required. A working knowledge of French and/or German is a strong asset given the daily interaction with Luxembourg's municipalities and national stakeholders. Luxembourgish and other languages are an asset.

Your LIST benefits

• An organization with a passion for impact and strong RDI partnerships in Luxembourg and Europe that works on responsible and independent research projects
• Sustainable by design, empowering our belief that we play an essential role in paving the way to a green society
• Innovative infrastructures and exceptional labs occupying more than 5,000 square metres, including innovations in all that we do
• An environment encouraging curiosity, innovation and entrepreneurship in all areas
• Personalized learning programme to foster our staff’s soft and technical skills
• Multicultural and international work environment with more than 60 nationalities represented in our workforce
• Diverse and inclusive work environment empowering our people to fulfil their personal and professional ambitions
• Gender-friendly environment with multiple actions to attract, develop and retain women in science
• 32 days’ paid annual leave, 11 public holidays, 13-month salary, statutory health insurance
• Flexible working hours, home working policy (not remote) and access to Digital lunch vouchers

Apply online

Your application must include:

• A motivation letter oriented towards the position and detailing your experience
• A scientific CV with contact details
• List of publications (and patents, if applicable)
• Contact details of 2 references

Please apply ONLINE formally through the HR system. Applications by email will not be considered.

Application procedure and conditions

We kindly request applicants to provide their nationality for statistical purposes only, as part of our commitment to promoting diversity and ensuring equal opportunities in our workforce. This information will be kept confidential and will not be used for any discriminatory purposes.

LIST is dedicated to maintaining an inclusive work environment and is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to attracting, hiring, and retaining a diverse workforce. All applicants will be considered for employment without discrimination based on national origin, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, religion, age, or disability.

Applications will be continuously reviewed until the position is filled. An assessment committee will thoroughly evaluate applications, adhering to guidelines designed to ensure equal opportunities. The primary criteria for selection will be the alignment of the applicant's existing skills and expertise with the requirements mentioned above.

As part of our recruitment process, the selected candidate might be subject to a background check in accordance with applicable laws and institutional policies. Further checks and restrictions might apply to candidates in compliance with export controls requirements

For the purposes of the position and in accordance with applicable legislation, the successful candidate may be requested to provide a recent criminal record certificate.

This position offers a gross monthly salary between EUR 7.460 and EUR 9.742, paid over 13 months (EUR 96.980 - EUR 126.646 annually) based on full-time employment. The final salary offer within this range will be determined based on the candidate's overall profile, qualifications and professional experience.

For part-time employment, the salary is adjusted pro rata.