Research Engineer (M/F) - 12-month fixed-term contract

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

A ministerial engineering school under the ministry in charge of industry, IMT Mines Albi is a school within the Institut Mines-Télécom, the leading group of engineering and management schools in France. At the forefront of industrial and academic challenges on the international stage, it acts as a territorial scientific and economic driver by combining its 4 missions - training engineers by integrating the dynamics of sustainable development, conducting scientific research, contributing to economic development, and disseminating the culture of science, technology, and innovation - into a virtuous and innovation-generating cycle.

Its positioning in terms of training and research makes IMT Mines Albi a reference school in three of IMT's four thematic areas: responsible future industry, energy, circular economy, and society, as well as engineering, health, and well-being.

In 2023, IMT Mines Albi adopted a five-year strategic plan, broken down into 7 major actions, thereby responding to the strategic orientations of the IMT group to which it belongs.

Through the Industrial Engineering Center (CGI), IMT Mines Albi conducts research at the intersection of artificial intelligence and industrial engineering, in collaboration with national and international public and industrial partners.

The Industrial Engineering Center (CGI) (https://cgi.imt-mines-albi.fr/) has around 70 people, including 25 PhD students. The center is interested in supporting the transition of ecosystems by enabling responsible and sustainable decision-making in unstable or disrupted environments. This is put into practice by representing, modeling, and analyzing the data of these organizations to formalize knowledge leading to decision-making in heterogeneous, collaborative, uncertain, and/or disrupted contexts.

CGI is structured according to applied research axes and scientific programs. The applied research axes are:

• FLOWS axis: Flexible Logistics and Operations for sustainable WorldS to which this position is attached.

• DiSCS axis: Digital Systems for Crisis management and Security;

• TRACE axis: Territorial Resilience, Agility, and Circular Economy;

• WHOPS axis: Well-being and Health through Organizational Processes and Services.

The two scientific programs at the heart of these research axes are:

• HOPOPOP: Hybridization for Operations & Planning, Organizations & Performance, Optimization & Problem-solving;

• AIME-DM: Automated Information Modeling and Extraction for Decision-Makers.

JOB DESCRIPTION:

In the context of Education 4.0, the various stakeholders in a university training institution (students, staff, external speakers, etc.) have different constraints and objectives, making the coordination and management of such institutions complex (organization and planning of teaching, management of common spaces, organization of exam sessions…).

In addition, these institutions must adapt both in terms of managing their sites (better alignment with new teaching methods) and in terms of the flows of people using them for better load distribution and interoperability of all available tools (e.g., a timetable manager). In this context, the organizational digital twin represents the system that allows simulation and decision support through bidirectional exchanges between the physical organization (people and systems, including buildings) and its virtual replica for the purpose of global flow management.

The DIGIFAC’Santé project fits into this context. It focuses on the design and development of a digital twin for university sites, the management of student and staff flows, and the pedagogical evolution of its programs.

A digital twin can only fulfill its role if it faithfully represents the essential information for decision-making, which itself is derived from data collected in the various university departments and current software applications. However, these applications exhibit different levels of heterogeneity depending on their functionalities. The nature of the operations performed (timetables, management of rooms and equipment, etc.) imposes strong constraints on the availability of this its automatic and real-time collection is not always technically feasible, which constitutes a central challenge for feeding the digital twin.

The study to be conducted within this project aims to:

Model the informational need. This involves designing a meta-model capable of generically and formally representing the information strictly necessary for feeding the university digital twin. This meta-model must frame the information feedback by defining the precise need, i.e., by distinguishing what constitutes decision-making information from what is a collection artifact with no added value for management.

Feed the models. Once the meta-model of informational need is established, the question of its instantiation from real data from existing applications arises. How to feed these models from heterogeneous, partial data, produced according to variable collection rhythms and methods? This links issues of integration, quality, and data consistency with the requirements of the digital twin.

Manage the absence of certain data. In a context where certain operations do not allow for automatic and real-time data collection, due to the very nature of the implemented processes (e.g., timetable construction, student cohort tracking), how can the consistency and completeness of the representation provided by the digital twin be maintained? This work package questions the system's ability to compensate for data feedback gaps through inference or deduction mechanisms, allowing for the reconstruction of a plausible state of the system from partial information.

Propose aids for sizing and managing university sites. This involves using the digital twin in all its functionalities to, among other things, ensure that planned building developments can accommodate all current and projected flows for this institution, optimize flows between different sites, and validate choices for evolving pedagogical practices and their suitability with available capacities (rooms and specific equipment, spaces, staff, etc.).

Desired skills, knowledge, and experience:

• Process/organization modeling

• Systems analysis

• Data analysis

• Model-driven engineering

• Decision support

• Discrete event simulation and digital twin

• Process mining,

• Knowledge of algorithms, UML, Semantic Web will be highly appreciated

Capacities and aptitudes:

• Written and spoken English (Minimum Level B2 required); cf. European framework; e.g.: minimum 785/990 in TOEIC), evidenced by a recognized certification (TOEFL, TOEIC, IELTS).

• Proficiency in French (Minimum C1) is required to facilitate exchanges with experts and stakeholders.

• Ability to work in a research team, autonomy, initiative, organization, intellectual curiosity…

• Motivation to contribute to a university application

PROFILE SOUGHT:

Research engineer or post-doctoral researcher, in industrial engineering and/or supply chain management and/or Software Engineering, or Master's degree or equivalent (Bac+5 level).

BEYOND THE PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT, WHY JOIN US?:

• Pleasant working environment on a 22-hectare campus

• 49 days of leave per year

• On-site administrative catering

• Sustainable mobility assistance for commuting

• Social benefits (supplementary social protection and family assistance)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The position is based at IMT Mines Albi, Industrial Engineering Center, Albi (France). Travel is expected to the project partner's site in Toulouse (Haute Garonne), France.

• Nature and duration of contract: 12-month fixed-term contract

For internal use:

• Job category and reference profession: Category II, Profession R – Research Engineer

• Reference profession(s) of applicants: All categories

• Job location: IMT Mines Albi, Jarlard Campus, Route de Teillet 81013 ALBI CT Cedex 09

• Application deadline: 2026/11/22

• Desired start date: 2027/01/01

• Remuneration is set according to the candidate's profile (profession, age, employment track, salary guarantee duration), based on the rules defined by the management framework of Institut Mines Télécom

• Positions offered for recruitment are open to all, with, upon request, accommodations for candidates with disabilities

• Position open to holders of Category A of the civil service and/or to contract employees

Contacts:

o On the content of the position: Didier Gourc (o On administrative/HR aspects: Laura OLIVIER, HR Manager (