(Senior) Scientist, Ai Applications For Material Science

Are you interested in the latest AI and ML and looking for a new job opportunity in the field? Do you want to build an excellent science career and work at the interface of the academy and industry? VTT might be just the place for you.

VTT is one of the leading applied research organisations in Europe. What unites us are curiosity, a passion for learning, and a purpose: to solve the biggest challenges of our time and turn them into sustainable growth and well-being. Our cross-disciplinary community of over 2000 brilliant minds focuses on creating impact through science-based innovation. In recent years, we have created ground-breaking innovations such as the world's fastest and most accurate radiation detector, a cancer-sniffing sensor device for smartphones, and a headphone set entirely made of microbial materials. Get to know us further by exploring VTT's tech & infra.

We are now looking for a (Senior) Scientist focused on AI applications for materials science and engineering to join our Propertune AI team!

In this position you do top notch research supporting advanced materials development and production, hone your skills in drafting project proposals and can grow into a project manager. Together with our team, you coordinate project preparation and proposals. You will be applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods to solve exciting material research problems. The material application areas range from metals to battery materials, and from biopolymers to semiconductor materials. Our team thrives on collaboration, working seamlessly with many other teams across VTT and beyond to achieve shared goals.

You will work to develop VTT ProperTune®, which is a unique, Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) based methodology to solve complex material problems and to invent totally new materials with unprecedented properties. VTT ProperTune® combined with tailored experimental capabilities and powered by data and AI methodology, form together Materials Acceleration Platform (MAP) concept utilized at VTT. Combining high-quality data with advanced data analytics and the use of AI is the booster for research productivity and new research services for VTT’s customers. In addition to applying AI methods for materials research, we work on High Performance Computing utilizing the fastest supercomputer in Europe, the LUMI, and VTT’s own quantum computers. Our objective is to accelerate new material development with data driven and computationally fast solutions in order to support the development of new materials needed in green transition and enabling development of new material applications.

Read more about our VTT ProperTune® concept: https://www.vttresearch.com/en/ourservices/computational-material-design-vtt-propertune

Your responsibilities as (Senior) Scientist:

• Plan, prepare and coordinate national and international project proposals

• Ensure our defined research tasks are performed on time, and the results are delivered and reported with high quality.

• Networking and acting as a thought leader in your area of expertise.

• Communicating results impactfully in scientific publications and presentations, as well as with industry projects.

• Act as a core research group member in research focusing on applying “classic” and state-of-the-art machine learning methods and AI to solve materials-related problems and software development and implementation.

• Participating in relevant research projects and customer projects.

• Act as a project manager for large jointly funded projects - Don’t worry if you don’t have much experience in project management yet, we can support your growth!

Who we are looking for:

• Experienced AI expert with expertise in some of the following; machine learning, large language models, surrogate modelling, data analytics or data management .

• Interested in using and developing LLM powered agents.

• Programming skills in e.g. Python, C/C++, etc.

• Experience with materials and their modelling at different scales

• Masters or doctoral degree in materials science, computer science, data science or mathematics, or a closely related field

• Good communication skills and ability to build high value research collaboration in the area

• You have experience on project proposal drafting or some other relevant experience related to different funding instruments

• You are proficient in English language.

• Interested and eligible to participate in defence sector research and collaborate with NATO and Finnish Defence Forces.

• Its beneficial if you also have some knowhow in the use of HPC resources and quantum computing

As a person, we hope that you are:

• A proactive team player who possesses a self-driven mindset

• Excited to organise, draft and coordinate project proposals and grow into a project manager direction, socially skilled

• Ready to jump into different project tasks when needed, proposing and delivering solutions.

With VTT, you’ll enjoy:

• Visionary work in technology. We offer positions at the cutting-edge of technology and engineering, from next-generation microelectronics and quantum technology to automation and robotics, energy systems, and more. Our research agenda is dedicated to creating sustainable growth by solving systemic and technological challenges, so your work will go towards creating a real, positive impact. Read more about our strategy – the path of exponential hope.

• Fascinating projects, excellent research environment. Our researchers get to work on a combination of cutting-edge academic research and applied customer projects locally and internationally. At VTT, you'll have state-of-the-art research facilities, such as Micronova, the Finnish research infrastructure for micro-, nano-, and quantum technologies.

• Great career opportunities, superb colleagues. At VTT, excellence in research is a strategic priority. We offer long-term positions and stable career paths in top-level research. People tend to stay with us for over ten years since there are always new roles and responsibilities to grow into. Collaborating in a cross-disciplinary community with superb colleagues is a source of learning, inspiration, and fun. Read more about our organisational culture as the builder of the world's most meaningful place to work.

• Support for your well-being. Our people are our main asset, so we take good care of them. We aim to nurture excellent team spirit and leadership and offer versatile well-being services to enable a good work-life balance. On top of 6 weeks of paid holidays annually (after one year of work), we offer exercise and culture benefits, hobby clubs, and voluntary well-being services such as meditation and cognitive ergonomics training.

Apply now and join our community of brilliant minds!

Please send your CV with your salary request and answer the short screening questions instead of writing a cover letter via our recruitment system as soon as possible but at the latest by 15 March 2026. We will use the screening question answers to do our initial screening for this position. We will process applications as they come in and fill the position as soon as we find the right candidate. A security clearance procedure may be conducted during the recruitment process.

Interested and want to hear more?

For further information, please contact Napat Vajragupta, napat.vajragupta@vtt.fi, +358 50 462 6958, 3 March 12-13 or 4 March 12-13.

We look forward to hearing from you!