Research AI engineer

University of Barcelona; España; Hybrid; EUR 36,000 - 44,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working arrangements

Teleworking

Living in Barcelona

Job summary

The University of Barcelona’s Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Lab (BCN-AIM) invites applications for a Research AI Engineer to contribute to TrustAI-ES, focusing on federated learning and Generative AI for heart failure. You will work under supervision of Dr.

Polyxeni Gkontra and collaborate with international partners. Join an international research environment in Barcelona, with flexible arrangements including teleworking and opportunities to engage with European projects and clinical

Qualifications

• University degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Artificial Intelligence or related field.
• Proficiency in Python.
• Knowledge/experience in Machine Learning and/or Deep Learning.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the full AI development lifecycle from data preprocessing to model deployment and validation.
• Develop, implement, and validate ML/DL models for cardiovascular applications, esp. heart failure.
• Contribute to fair federated learning aggregation techniques across participating hospitals.
• Explore Generative AI approaches for medical image and video synthesis.
• Implement trustworthy and fair AI to improve reliability and equity of AI models.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary AI researchers, engineers and clinical experts.

Skills

Python

Machine Learning

Deep Learning

Federated Learning

Generative AI

Education

Bachelor’s degree or higher

Master’s degree or PhD preferred

Job description

Organisation/Company University of Barcelona Department Mathematics and Computer Science Research Field Computer science Engineering Other Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions Bachelor Positions Application Deadline 10 Nov 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Madrid) Country Spain Type of Contract Permanent Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 35 Offer Starting Date 1 Dec 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

We are looking for a talented and motivated Research AI Engineer to join the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Lab (BCN-AIM, www.bcn-aim.org ) at the University of Barcelona, as part of TrustAI-ES ( https://bcn-aim.org/our_projects/trustai-es/ ), an innovative Spanish national research project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU/AEI) and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The successful candidate will contribute to the development, implementation and validation of artificial intelligence models for heart failure, with a particular focus on federated learning, Generative AI for medical image and video synthesis, and trustworthy and fair AI.

The candidate will work under the direct supervision of Dr. Polyxeni Gkontra, Principal Investigator of TrustAI-ES, Assistant Professor at the University of Barcelona and Senior Researcher at BCN-AIM. The position will also offer opportunities to collaborate on other European-funded research projects within the lab, depending on the candidate's interests, and with international academic and clinical partners.

What will you do?

• Contribute to the full AI development lifecycle, from data preprocessing and integration to model development, implementation, deployment and validation.
• Develop, implement and validate machine learning and deep learning models for cardiovascular applications, particularly heart failure.
• Contribute to the development of fair federated learning aggregation techniques and their implementation and deployment across participating hospitals.
• Work on state-of-the-art Generative AI approaches for medical image and video synthesis and their application to cardiovascular AI.
• Implement trustworthy and fair AI approaches to improve the reliability, robustness and equity of AI models.
• Collaborate with an interdisciplinary team of AI researchers, engineers and clinical experts.
• A university degree (Bachelor's, Master's or equivalent) in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Artificial Intelligence or a related discipline.
• Proficiency in Python
• Knowledge and experience in Machine Learning and/or Deep Learning.

Desirable qualifications and experience:

• A Master's degree or PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Artificial Intelligence or a related discipline will be highly valued.
• Knowledge and experience in Federated Learning and/or Generative AI
• Experience in medical image analysis and/or artificial intelligence applications in healthcare.

We are looking for someone with strong technical skills, enthusiasm for research and medical applications of AI, and the ability to work both independently and collaboratively in an international research environment.

We offer:

• The opportunity to join a dynamic research group working at the forefront of AI for healthcare.
• Research experience within a prestigious university (1st position in Spain).
• Hands-on experience in cutting-edge research on federated learning, Generative AI for medical image/video synthesis and trustworthy AI.
• An international and multidisciplinary research environment, with opportunities to collaborate with academic and clinical partners.
• Flexible working arrangements, including the possibility of teleworking.
• The opportunity to live and work in Barcelona, one of Europe's most vibrant and attractive cities.

About the project

TrustAI-ES: Trustworthy AI for Heart Failure Risk Assessment in Spain through Federated Learning and Image Synthesis

TrustAI-ES aims to develop innovative and trustworthy AI solutions for heart failure risk assessment by leveraging federated learning and medical image/video synthesis. The project focuses on developing privacy-preserving and fair AI models that can learn from data distributed across different hospitals, without requiring the centralisation of sensitive patient information. At the same time, generative AI for medical image/video synthesis will be used to expand the available training data, particularly for under-represented groups in Spain. This is essential for ensuring algorithmic fairness and reducing bias in AI models.

The successful candidate will contribute to the implementation and validation of these approaches, helping advance reliable and equitable AI solutions for cardiovascular medicine.

About BCN-AIM

The successful candidate will join the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Lab (BCN-AIM, www.bcn-aim.org ), based at the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science of the University of Barcelona. Our team brings together more than 30 enthusiastic academics, researchers, students and research managers, with expertise in data science, machine and deep learning, biomedical informatics, trustworthy AI, and health-related applications. The research group has an established track record in coordinating and participating in European and international projects (18 projects, more than 12 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, YOUTHreach, DVPS, AIXPERT, AFRICAI-RI, AIFIX, STAGE).

About 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: 39.863,56 € (Senior Technician, Group I).

Applicants with disabilities : Applicants who require adaptations for the interview or to perform the duties of the position must indicate this in their application and submit the relevant binding suitability assessment issued by the competent authority (EVO) in Catalonia, as specified in the official call.

Language: Although the official job announcement and application procedure are published in Catalan, knowledge of Catalan is not required for this position. English is the working language of the research team, and fluency in English is expected.

We look forward to welcoming you to BCN-AIM!