Postdoctoral position in Barcelona on Artificial Intelligence in Oncology – AIM-SAFE

Universitat de Barcelona; España; On-site; EUR 34,000 - 46,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working hours

Telework opportunities

Competitive salary

Job summary

Universitat de Barcelona's Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Lab invites applications for a postdoctoral researcher position in Barcelona. The role focuses on trustworthy generative AI for oncology within Horizon Europe AIM-SAFE and RadioVal, collaborating with a European network of partners.

The successful candidate will develop and evaluate AI methods for medical imaging and multimodal data, contribute to foundation model design, coordinate multicentre analyses, and prepare scientific

Qualifications

• PhD in a relevant field required or demonstrated equivalent research experience.
• Excellent programming skills in Python; C++ is a plus.
• Strong English proficiency (oral and written).
• Experience with medical imaging and multimodal data analysis is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Develop, implement and evaluate advanced AI methods for medical imaging and multimodal clinical data.
• Contribute to design and validation of foundation model approaches for healthcare.
• Collaborate with technical and clinical partners to curate multicentre datasets.
• Coordinate, technical development and validation activities of European projects.

Skills

Machine learning

Deep learning

Python

C++

English

Independence

Team spirit

Collaboration

Education

PhD in a relevant field

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Slurm

Job description

Organisation/Company Universitat de Barcelona Department OPIR Research Field Computer science Engineering Mathematics Other Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Positions Postdoc Positions Application Deadline 27 Oct 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Madrid) Country Spain Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 37,5 Offer Starting Date 16 Nov 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe Reference Number Nº GA 101287214 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

We are offering an exciting postdoctoral positionat the University of Barcelona within the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Lab (BCN-AIM), directed by Prof. Karim Lekadir and hosted within the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. The successful candidate will contribute to cutting-edge research on trustworthy generative artificial intelligence in oncology as part of the Horizon Europe AIM-SAFE project.

Concretely, we offer:

• A research position in beautiful Barcelona and its Mediterranean climate.
• Research experience within a prestigious university (1st position in Spain).
• Cutting-edge research in AI for healthcare in one of the most dynamic research groups in Europe (12 active projects including an ERC grant).
• An international research environment by joining a multi-cultural team representing all continents.
• Opportunities to collaborate with international and inter-disciplinary collaborators as part of the European projects.
• Support in career development (e.g. grant applications, supervision of PhD students).
• Travelling opportunities to scientific events, project meetings and international stays.
• Freedom to independently conduct research and contribute with own ideas.
• Flexible working hours, with possibility to telework.
• Competitive salary equivalent to Assistant or Associate Professor at the University of Barcelona, depending on experience.

Contract duration until the end of the projects with the possibility to extend the contract as part of other grants within the lab.

The requirements for the position are:

• Machine learning and deep learning algorithms.
• Biomedical data science and multimodal medical data analysis.
• Medical image analysis and computer vision.
• Excellent programming skills in Python and/or C++.
• Proficient English, both oral and written.
• Enthusiasm for research and trustworthy AI applications in healthcare.
• Ability to work independently, lead research activities and meet project deadlines.
• Good team spirit and active participation in the laboratory's scientific activities.

Ability to collaborate effectively with local and international technical and clinical partners.

Furthermore, knowledge in any of the following areas are desirable (but optional):

• Probability and statistics.
• Large Language Models and Agentic AI
• Explainable and trustworthy AI.
• Federated learning.
• Docker, Kubernetes and Slurm
• DevOps and MLOps
• Personalised and precision medicine.

Experience in EU-funded projects

The research projects:

You will join our AI for oncology team as part of ongoing European Commission-funded projects such as AIM-SAFE and RadioVal, including projects coordinated by our laboratory. These initiatives focus on developing trustworthy, safe and explainable AI solutions to support personalised oncology and clinical decision-making. In particular, AIM-SAFE develops privacy-preserving generative AI assistants for multimodal clinical reasoning and patient safety, while RadioVal is conducting the first large-scale multi-centre clinical validation of radiomics-based AI for predicting breast cancer treatment response. The research builds on unique multimodal data repositories, real-world hospital data, trustworthy AI methods, computational tools and clinical evidence generated through major European oncology initiatives. As a member of our team, you will collaborate with leading technical and clinical partners across Europe (e.g. in the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom, Greece, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Austria, Czechia and Turkey).

In this position, your tasks will include:

• Develop, implement and evaluate advanced AI methods for medical imaging and multimodal clinical data, with a focus on trustworthy AI and clinical decision support.
• Contribute to the design and validation of innovative machine learning and foundation model approaches for healthcare applications.
• Collaborate with technical and clinical partners to curate, harmonise and analyse multicentre datasets for AI development and evaluation.
• Participate in the coordination, technical development and validation activities of European collaborative research projects.

Prepare scientific publications, technical deliverables and reports, and contribute to project management, dissemination and collaboration with international partners.

The group:

The successful candidate will join the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Lab, which is an integral part of the University of Barcelona’s Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science. It is a young and dynamic research lab, highly active in international projects, and composed of >25 enthusiastic academics, researchers, students and research managers, with expertise in data science, machine/deep learning, biomedical informatics, trustworthy AI, and health-related applications. The research group has an established track record in coordination and participation in European and international projects (> 10 million Euros over the last 5 years) in biomedical data science and medical AI (e.g. EuCanImage, euCanSHare, EarlyCause, LongITools, HealthyCloud, RadioVal, DataTools4Heart, Youth-GEMs, HappyMums, AIMIX, AI4HF, STAGE, YOUTHreach, AIFIX, AIXPERT, DVPS).

The institution:

The University of Barcelona (UB), founded in 1450, is one of the oldest universities in Spain. It comprises a student body of 84,370 and 4,548 research staff members. With 73 undergraduate programs, 273 graduate programs and 48 doctorate programs, UB is the largest university in Barcelona and Catalonia. The UB is ranked the first Spanish university according to several rankings (QS World University Rankings 2022, Shanghai Ranking 2022). It is particularly interested in fostering international relations and, for many years, has managed an average of 150 European projects per year. The University of Barcelona is part of the prestigious League of European Universities Research (LERU).

Gross salary per year: 40.000 €.

The application period is from 14 to 27 October 2026, both inclusive.

• Medical image analysis and computer vision.
• Biomedical data science and multimodal data integration.
• Excellent programming skills (e.g. Python).
• Excellent English, both oral and written.
• Ability to independently analyse, present and communicate research results.

Specific Requirements

• Good team spirit and participation in the scientific life of the lab
• Aptitude to work independently, to lead on project deliverables to co-supervise students, and to represent the lab at meetings and events
• Aptitude to collaborate with both technical and clinical collaborators
• Passion for applications of artificial intelligence to biomedicine
• Strong writing and speaking skills .

Languages ENGLISH Level Excellent

Research Field Computer scienceEngineeringMathematicsOther Years of Research Experience 4 - 10

Additional Information

Eligibility criteria

• Adequacy of the CV (maximum 50)

Specialty doctorate (30), generic doctorate (20)

Letter of motivation (maximum 20)

Experience in the field (maximum 30).

Minimum score to pass the selection process: 60/100 points.

Selection process

An interview will be conducted if the evaluation committee deems it necessary.

Required documentation:

• CV (include contact details of people from whom references or reports can be requested)
• Motivational letter
• Registration form (online GAIA)

Be in possession of the doctor's degree at the time of the formalization of the contract

Additional comments

Duration of the contract of employment: 12 months, renewable up to31/05/2030.

The candidate proposed for hiring must accept the job offer within 3 working days from the date of notification of the selection.

Priority will be given to people with disabilities (Law 89/2015 of June 2, reserve of quota 2% in favour of people with disabilities in companies of 50 or more people).

Be aware that the starting date sets in this offer is an estimate date. The official starting date will depend on the bureaucratic time that will take the preparation of the labour contract and presentation of the necessary documents to be hired by the selected candidate.