11/02/2020
The cross-faculty Artificial Intelligence Lab of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) is hiring a Business Developer to help grow and sustain its portfolio of Applied Research projects with industry (i.e., R&D projects co-funded by EC, Federal, Flanders, Brussels Region) and Services and Contract Research with Industry.
The cross-faculty Artificial Intelligence Lab consists of three research groups. The Artificial Intelligence Lab was founded in 1983 by Prof. Dr. Luc Steels. It is internationally renowned for its research in reinforcement learning and multi-agent systems, grounded natural language understanding (including the evolution of language and speech) and computational creativity. The Data Analytics Lab combines fundamental and algorithmic expertise with a profound business understanding. Our research has a business-oriented systems approach, with ML and AI applications in finance, transport and logistics operations. The Digital Mathematics Research Group specializes in applied mathematics based on a solid foundation of interplay with various areas of pure mathematics. The focus lies on the mathematical foundations for digital data acquisition, representation, analysis, communication, security and forensics. The combined AI expertise of the consortium provides a unique range in AI topics and broad experience with AI applications in all industrial sectors. The consortium consists of around 60 researchers, of which 14 professors, and has had more than 20 applied projects in collaboration with industry partners over the last years. Its main application areas are cyber-physical systems, human-computer interaction and business analytics.
This position is part of the IOF (Industrieel Onderzoeksfonds Vlaanderen) program which provides support to research groups with sufficient critical mass and a potential to transfer research results into innovative applications, and as such develop a sustainable research track in application-oriented research. For more information on the IOF program, see: https://www.vub.be/innovatie/innovatie/funding-applied-industrial-research
YOUR TASKS:
Your task will be to analyse and structure the group’s portfolio of results into a market-oriented vision and strategy, the goal of which is the acquisition of applied research projects defined jointly with industry, possibly partially financed by regional R&D funding agencies (e.g., VLAIO, Innoviris). You will actively manage and promote this portfolio with potential industrial partners and help define new applied research and contract research projects (including the financial aspect) while maintaining an active link with the ongoing research activities at the lab. You will work closely together with a team of professors and other business developers. You will actively build and manage a network of companies that are part of ongoing and potential future collaborations.
REQUIREMENTS:
A previous successful experience in business development;
A master or PhD in computer science, engineering, business engineering or similar;
An interest in artificial intelligence technology;
Good communication skills (writing, presentations, networking);
SKILLS THAT CAN STRENGTHEN YOUR APPLICATION:
Prior research expertise;
Artificial Intelligence expertise or in a subdomain of AI;
Experience with project proposal writing;
Excellent English language skills, knowledge of Dutch and/or French is an additional advantage;
You are a team player that can cope with deadlines;
You are ready to operate in a highly dynamic international team of young researchers;
You can create a professional bridge between the academic and industrial stakeholders.
The position is to be filled as soon as possible and immediately available. Exact starting date can be negotiated.
