Contents
Job openings
Team Leaders
Post-doctoral Researchers
Group Opening
- Nanophotonics Theory Group: Post-doctoral position in design of integrated photonic waveguides with optimum in/out-coupling to light
- Neurophotonics and Mechanical Systems Biology Group: Post-doctoral position in advanced optical trapping within cells and biomolecular condensates
- Medical Optics Group: Post-doctoral position in speckle contrast optical spectroscopy (SCOS) for non-invasive blood flow measurement
- Quantum NanoElectronics and NanoMechanics Group: Post-doctoral position in nanotube electromechanics
- CO2 Mitigation Accelerated by Photons Group: Post-doctoral positions in advanced water electrolysis and scale-up
- Quantum NanoElectronics and NanoMechanics Group: Post-doctoral positions in analogue electron quantum simulator
- Quantum Photonics with Solids and Atoms Group: Post-doctoral position in quantum repeaters with solid-state quantum nodes
- Optoelectronics Group: Post-doctoral in application-driven PIC development for neutral atom quantum technologies
- Atomic Quantum Optics Group: Post-doctoral positions in Experimental quantum sensing with atomic systems
- Ultracold Quantum Gases Group: Post-doctoral position on quantum-gas microscopy of SU(N) Fermi-Hubbard models
- CO2 Mitigation Accelerated by Photons Group: Post-doctoral position in automation of electrolysis systems
- Quantum Photonics with Solids and Atoms Group: Post-doctoral position in Development of Cold Atom-Based Quantum Network Nodes
- Medical Optics Group: Post-doctoral position in applications of near-infrared spectroscopy and diffuse correlation spectroscopy in critical care
Project Engineers
PhD-fellows
ICFO offers several pathways for talented and motivated candidates interested in pursuing a PhD within one of our Research Groups.
All PhD students admitted to ICFO receive a fully funded fellowship.
To be considered for institutional PhD fellowships, candidates must apply to the official PhD Fellowship Program Calls.
In addition, candidates may also submit separate applications to Group Openings advertised by specific research groups.
If no fellowship calls or group openings are open at the time of application, students who wish to pursue a PhD at ICFO are encouraged to contact the Group Leader(s) of the research groups they are interested in joining. Candidates should include their CV and a motivation/presentation letter when reaching out.
Students may also join ICFO with their own funding or through external fellowships such as the LaCaixa INPhINIT Incoming and Retaining calls. Interested candidates should apply directly to such programs and are likewise encouraged to contact the prospective the Group Leader(s) in advance.
For general information regarding ICFO fellowships and specific calls, please contact us at https://www.icfo.eu.
Currently we have the following call(s) open:
Undergraduate and Master Students
General Call
ICFO offers a variety of internship opportunities for talented and motivated Bachelor’s and Master’s students interested in undertaking a Final Degree Project, Master’s Thesis, or a Research Stay within one of our Research groups.
Students may join ICFO through our specialized Fellowship Programs when these are available. Alternatively, students can be hosted through funding programs such as Erasmus+, in which case they should apply through their home institution. If no ICFO fellowship programs are open at the time of application, students are encouraged to contact the group leaders directly. Some financial support may be provided by the host group. Please send the following documents when contacting the group leader(s) of your interest:
- A cover letter explaining your research interests, why you want to join that particular ICFO group, your career goals and any specific requests in terms of period and duration of the internship.
- Your CV including education, relevant experience, skills, and publications (if any).
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at jobs@icfo.eu.
Admin & Technical Engineers
Head of Legal Affairs
ICFO is looking for a Head of Legal Affairs to build and lead its internal Legal function and become the institution’s senior legal reference.
Reporting directly to the Executive Direction, the Head of Legal Affairs will have overall responsibility for ensuring that legal matters and legal risks across ICFO are appropriately identified, assessed and managed.
This is a unique opportunity for an experienced lawyer who wants to go beyond managing individual legal matters and shape a legal capability from the ground up. The successful candidate will combine senior legal judgement and hands-on legal work with the opportunity to build the processes, tools, knowledge base and team required for ICFO’s next stage of development.
ICFO operates at the intersection of cutting-edge research, public-sector regulation, intellectual property, technology transfer and international collaboration, creating a diverse and demanding legal environment.
The internal Legal team will include a Legal Counsel and a Legal Operations Officer, complemented by specialized external legal support when required.
The role
A key initial mandate will be to assess ICFO’s current legal activity, risks and ways of working and, based on this diagnosis, design and progressively develop the Legal function.
Main responsibilities will include:
- acting as ICFO’s senior legal reference and advising the Executive Direction and other relevant institutional decision-makers on complex, sensitive and strategically relevant matters;
- taking overall responsibility for the quality, consistency and appropriate management of legal matters across the institution;
- mapping and prioritizing legal risks and defining the operating model, priorities and ways of working of the Legal function;
- providing senior legal advice on the public-sector legal and regulatory framework applicable to ICFO, including governance, transparency, incompatibilities, conflicts of interest, public funding and the legal implications of economic-financial and regulatory requirements;
- monitoring relevant regulatory developments and supporting their appropriate interpretation and implementation across the institution;
- providing senior legal expertise on intellectual property, research agreements, technology transfer, licensing, spin-offs and national and international research collaborations;
- supporting institutional governance, Board-related matters, internal regulations, policies, resolutions and other governance instruments;
- ensuring appropriate legal coverage of cross-cutting areas such as data protection, integrity and anti-fraud, complex labor matters and emerging digital and AI-related legal issues;
- contributing to the preparation and review of institutional policies, procedures, internal regulations and other normative instruments;
- creating and maintaining a coherent body of legal criteria, precedents, templates and internal regulatory documentation;
- designing, documenting, simplifying and improving Legal processes, including their digitalization and automation where appropriate;
- participating in cross-functional working groups and strategic institutional projects;
- determining when specialized external legal expertise is required and coordinating external counsel;
- leading and developing the internal Legal team.
The objective is to build a Legal function that is rigorous, pragmatic, accessible and efficient, capable of anticipating and managing legal risk while enabling ICFO to pursue its scientific and institutional objectives.
The Head of Legal Affairs will have overall accountability for Legal while working closely with the institutional functions that retain ownership of their respective activities.
Public procurement and tender-management activities are not part of the Legal function.
This is a player-coach role; the successful candidate will lead and develop the function while remaining directly involved in legal analysis, drafting, negotiation and problem-solving.
Share this opening!
Use the following URL:
https://jobs.icfo.eu/?detail=1155
Minimum requirements
Candidates must meet the following requirements:
- University degree in Law and appropriate professional legal qualification.
- At least 8 years of relevant professional legal experience, with demonstrated progression in autonomy and responsibility.
- Strong practical knowledge and experience of the Spanish and/or Catalan public-sector legal framework.
- Solid professional experience in intellectual property, research agreements and/or technology-transfer matters.
- Demonstrated experience independently handling complex legal matters and negotiations.
- Strong contractual drafting and negotiation skills.
- Experience providing legal advice to senior management or equivalent institutional decision-makers.
- Ability to manage a broad legal portfolio, identify material risks and determine when specialized external expertise is required.
- Ability and willingness to combine senior-level responsibilities with hands-on legal work.
- Excellent professional command of Catalan, Spanish and English, including legal drafting and negotiation.
Desired experience and qualifications
The following will be particularly valued:
- Experience in research centers, universities, public-sector foundations or other research-intensive organizations.
- Experience with European and international research programs, partnerships and consortia.
- Experience with licensing, spin-offs, shareholders’ agreements, investment transactions or other technology-transfer activities.
- Experience in institutional governance and advising governing bodies.
- Experience with transparency, data protection, integrity, conflicts of interest or anti-fraud frameworks.
- Experience with the legal implications of grants, public funding and public-sector economic or budgetary regulations.
- Experience building, restructuring or significantly developing an in-house Legal function.
- Experience creating or consolidating policies, internal regulatory frameworks and institutional legal knowledge.
- Experience in Legal Operations, process design, digitalization or automation.
- Experience leading and developing legal professionals.
- Experience coordinating specialized external counsel.
Professional competencies
We are looking for someone who combines:
- excellent legal judgement and a strong sense of ownership and accountability;
- the ability to identify and prioritize material legal risks;
- a pragmatic and solution-oriented approach;
- sound institutional judgement in complex or ambiguous situations;
- strong analytical, drafting, negotiation and communication skills;
- the ability to challenge constructively while remaining an effective institutional partner;
- the ability to work effectively with scientific, technical and management stakeholders;
- an interest in building processes, systems and institutional capability, not only resolving individual legal matters;
- leadership and team-development capability;
- integrity, discretion and professional independence.
What ICFO Offers
At ICFO, we offer a unique opportunity to contribute to one of the world’s leading research institutions and to play a key role in shaping its future development and international presence.
The position provides:
- A highly stimulating and international environment.
- A senior leadership role with close interaction with the Director and the Managing Director.
- The opportunity to contribute to the visibility and impact of frontier science.
- Direct interaction with world-leading scientists and strategic partners.
- Significant scope for creativity, institutional development and long-term impact.
- The opportunity to lead and develop a highly capable multidisciplinary area with broad institutional reach and impact.
- Competitive salary and benefits commensurate with experience and qualifications.
- A unique location in Barcelona, one of Europe’s most vibrant scientific, cultural and innovation hubs.
Equal Opportunity
ICFO is an equal opportunity employer. We hire based solely on merit and potential, regardless of gender, nationality, or disability. ICFO fully endorses the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers, ensuring a transparent and supportive recruitment process.
Conditions
This is a full-time position.
The contract offered will be a permanent contract (contracte indefinit) linked to the approved Public Employment Offer (Oferta Pública d’Ocupació – OPO) of ICFO and governed by the applicable public-sector labor framework.
A probationary period of 6 months will apply, in accordance with ICFO’s internal labor regulations and the applicable public-sector labor framework.
A salary according to ICFO’s approved salary scales will be offered, commensurate with the level of the position and the candidate’s experience.
The selected candidate will join ICFO under a permanent contract and will benefit from ICFO’s attractive working conditions, including a hybrid work model, flexible working hours, and access to professional development opportunities.
Selection process
To apply, please submit your resume, a cover letter outlining your experience, and contact information for 2 professional references. Applications should be submitted via the ICFOJobs platform http://jobs.icfo.eu.
The selection process will include:
1. Eligibility and merit assessment, based on the minimum requirements and relevant professional experience.
2. Structured interview, covering technical expertise, professional experience, legal judgement, leadership and motivation.
3. Practical case, assessing the candidate’s ability to analyze and prioritize complex legal and institutional matters and to approach the development of ICFO’s Legal function.
4. Occupational work-style assessment and final interview, focused on leadership, decision-making and suitability for the responsibilities of the position.
5. Professional references for the preferred candidate.
All assessment methods will be directly related to the responsibilities and competencies of the position and applied consistently to candidates participating in the same stage of the process.
Data Protection
In accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) and Organic Law 3/2018, ICFO informs applicants that their personal data will be processed exclusively for recruitment purposes.
- Controller: Fundació ICFO – Institut de Ciències Fotòniques, Av. Carl Friedrich Gauss 3, 08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona).
- DPO: dpo@icfo.eu
- Legal basis: performance of a task in the public interest.
- Rights: access, rectification, erasure, restriction, and opposition.
- Supervisory authority: Catalan Data Protection Authority (APDCAT) https://apdcat.gencat.cat
All recruitment files will be retained in accordance with the Catalan public-sector archival retention schedule (DOGC 2117).
Reference: OSC-001-01
Application deadline: 12-11-2026
12th of November, 2026
Identify your interests
As your career goals and research interests are an integral part of the selection procedure itself, apart from the ICFOjobs site, we encourage you to browse ICFO’s corporate website to learn more about ICFO’s research activities and to identify the projects and/or areas that best match your background. We also recommend that you visit Careers @ ICFO. A clear indication of your interests and goals in your presentation letter will help us in reviewing your candidacy.
Did you identify an opening meeting your interest and career goals? Then, we are looking forward to your application!
Should there be no opening matching your interest or background, please contact us at jobs@icfo.eu or directly contact with the relevant ICFO Group Leaders or Unit Heads to explore potential future possibilities in their fields.
The application process
If you have identified an opening matching your interests, please read carefully the information about requirements, conditions and necessary application material and start the application process. Candidatures should be submitted online via ICFOjobs, our online application interface, in a 2-step procedure:
- Registration:
The button ‘Apply to this opening’ takes you to the online application form, gathering your personal data for identification purposes. Once submitted, you will receive a link by e-mail, which you must follow in order to continue the application process. - Application:
In this second step of the process you will be asked to provide further details and the necessary application material, as well as, in some of the openings, to indicate potential referees. All enclosed documentation must be in PDF format or plain text.
Once the application form is complete and the relevant material has been uploaded, submit your candidature by clicking on the ‘apply’ button. Candidates will receive an automatic reply acknowledging submission including a reference number for further enquiries or updates (within deadline).
By submitting an application, you grant ICFO permission to use the provided data for the recruiting process. (See Data Protection Policy.)
The review process
Applications will first be reviewed to assure that they meet the requirements and conditions as indicated in the job opening. Candidatures will then be evaluated by the corresponding Selection Committee according to the selection criteria of each opening. ICFO is an equal opportunity employer. Candidates are selected exclusively on merit and potential on the basis of submitted application material. No restrictions related to disabilities, citizenship or gender apply to ICFO positions. ICFO abides by the principles of openness, efficiency, transparency, supportiveness, and international comparability as stated in the European Charter for Researchers and the European Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers.
ICFO will notify candidates who are selected to pass to the next stage in the review process. Candidates who do not pass the first step of the review process will be notified of the outcome of their application at this time.
When requested, reference letters play an important role in supporting the candidate in the review process. Unless the call applied for indicate specific requirements in that sense, referees will be automatically contacted by ICFO requesting them to complete a standardized evaluation form and submit a letter of support for the candidates. Candidates should by no means submit a reference letter in support of their own candidature on behalf of their referees. The members of the selection committee will have access to reference letters.
On-site or online interviews (aiming at discussing the candidate’s suitability, project contents, hiring conditions and legal matters, etc.) with the Selection committee may be scheduled.
Notification of results
All candidates will be notified of the outcome of their application. Possible results are:
- Rejection:
The Selection Committee reaches the conclusion that the background of other candidate(s) appears to be more suitable for the position. - Waiting list:
Candidate(s) may be placed on a waiting list based on the shortlist proposed by the Selection Committee. Candidate(s) on this list may receive an offer in the event that the top-candidate does not accept the position. Waiting list candidates will receive a final decision as soon as the top-candidate confirms acceptance. - Acceptance / offer:
ICFO extends an official offer, asking the selected candidate for formal confirmation of acceptance.
The selection process is completed as soon as the candidate confirms acceptance of the offered position and a tentative starting date has been agreed.
After acceptance @ ICFO
Staff of the ICFO Human Resources and Education Unit will assist new ICFO members with the following procedures:
- Support with administrative and legal matters related to arriving and settling in, including immigration formalities (Visa application process, etc.) and personal assistance in relocation.
- Particularly for PhD-students: Information and advice on the necessary academic documentation to be gathered and submitted for enrollment in the PhD in Photonics program, including information about how to legalize previous studies (e.g. BSc, MSc, etc.) whenever necessary, as well as registration to the doctorate program and academic planning.
ICFO’s applicant database
The applicant database and all applications received through ICFOjobs, are managed by the staff of ICFO’s Human Resources and Education Unit. All information is handled with due confidentiality and solely for the purpose mentioned, and will be made available to the members of the Selection Committee in so far as they are necessary for the management of the process.
As indicated through the application process, other relevant information is also gathered for statistical purposes or in order to verify the eligibility requirements indicated in the corresponding call.
Do I have to submit my application exclusively online or may I also submit a hard copy?
ICFO only accepts applications submitted online via the ICFOjobs interface. As an exception, and only in case of force-majeure problems with electronic submission, candidates may submit their application in hard copy within the deadline.
Is it possible to apply for more than one opening? May I apply even if I have been considered for an ICFO opening in the past (i.e., re-application)?
Yes.
Do I receive a confirmation acknowledging reception of my application?
Yes.
Is it possible to update my personal data or application material? Likewise, will I be able to delete my application (and therefore all personal data)?
In the first step of application, through the online application form, you will have to provide your personal data including your contact e-mail. Once submitted, you will receive an acknowledging e-mail, containing a link which you have to follow in order to continue with the procedure (submission of application material, etc.). Via the link you receive by e-mail, you will also be able to update your data and application material (within the established deadlines) or even to withdraw your application.
In case of questions - whom shall I contact for help in submitting my application?
Please contact the recruiting staff of ICFO’s Human Resources at jobs@icfo.eu.
Particularly for PhD- and Postdoctoral openings: Is it possible to apply even if I have not yet finished the minimum academic qualification required?
Yes, unless the call explicitly indicates otherwise, but please indicate this clearly in your presentation letter. In general, candidates should hold an internationally-recognized degree or evidence of its completion before the prospective starting date.
Applications need to be supported by reference letters. How should these be submitted?
For exact details on how to proceed with reference letters, please check the specific opening you are applying for. In general, you will be requested to indicate name, institution, contact data, and relationship in the last part of the online application form. Depending on the opening, referees will be automatically contacted by ICFO requesting them to complete a standardized evaluation form and submit a letter of support for the candidates. Candidates should by no means submit a reference letter in support of their own candidature on behalf of their referees.
Submission of academic transcripts and degrees?
The required documentation to be submitted for application is indicated in the ‘application process’ of each opening. In general, ICFO will ask that you provide a copy of your most recent academic degree certificate. Additionally, and particularly for fellowships and internship positions, ICFO will also need you to submit scanned copies of your academic transcripts (current and previous studies). The academic transcripts contain the list of courses, including the credits and marks obtained. Provisional degree certificates are generally accepted by ICFO.
The application form requires the indication of my GPA – what shall I indicate?
GPA stands for Grade Point Average. Apart from other criteria, selection for ICFO positions, above all for fellowships and internships, is measured in terms of the academic performance. In this regard, ICFO needs an indication of the average of your final overall grade obtained in your studies (stated in your transcripts), the minimum grade required to pass in your university and the maximum grade that can be achieved or the overall qualification obtained in your PhD-studies (for applicants with a PhD-degree).
Retrieve your application
Contact
You can write an email to Human Resources and Education at ICFO.