PhD Position - Exploring Alternative Evolutions of Digital Twins

Context

Digital twins are virtual representations of real-world products, systems, or processes, enabling simulation, integration, testing, monitoring, training and maintenance. They play a pivotal role in optimizing complex systems across a wide range of domains, from industrial manufacturing and energy to environmental monitoring and healthcare.

The Engineering Digital Twin EDT program, funded by the France 2030 investment plan, is a national initiative aimed at advancing the foundations of digital twin engineering in France and Europe. By bringing together leading academic and industrial partners, EDT seeks to strengthen the bases for the design, use, and deployment of digital twins, addressing key open challenges in model hybridization, composability, development methodologies, digital coupling, and human–twin interaction.

This position focuses on research about tools for developing innovative immersive interfaces and interaction paradigms for digital twin systems, especially for exploring alternative situations.

Thesis Objectives

This doctoral project aims to enable designers and engineers to develop 3D interaction tools that will allow end users to explore and compare different situations and digital twin states resulting from their choices.

The main scientific challenges are as follows:

• Designing authoring tools capable of describing and generating 3D interaction methods to identify potential “divergence points” resulting from different solutions /states of the digital twin generated by the interactions (input values, actions, etc.) of end users on the system, such as the temperature or pressure of an object, the spatial or temporal location of an event or action, or the quantity of a product injected into the system.
• Proposing effective interactions and visualizations techniques in virtual reality or augmented reality to compare the results of these divergences (2D or 3D graphs, 3D evolutions of the digital twin or certain parts of it, etc.).
• Proposing indicators to compare the results of these divergences.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of these creation tools, interactions, visualizations, and indicators.

The results of this thesis will directly contribute to the Artemis platform, an open-source framework intended to become a benchmark in the field.

Work Environment

The position is based at IMT Atlantique in Brest, within the INUIT team at Lab-STICC.

The PhD candidate will be co-supervised by Professor Thierry Duval from IMT Atlantique Brest and by Professor David Baudry from CESI LINEACT Rouen.

The PhD candidate will benefit from a stimulating scientific and industrial environment of the highest level, with access to a national network of leading research institutions and industry partners, regular interactions with the broader EDT community through workshops, seminars, and joint demonstrators, and the opportunity to contribute to Artemis, the program’s open software platform.

What You Will Gain from This PhD

This PhD position offers the opportunity to:

• Develop highly sought-after skills in system modeling, real-time data processing, and collaborative innovation.
• Collaborate with leading partners (Inria, IMT, CEA, CNRS, etc.) and validate your research on real-world industrial use cases.
• Join a network of PhD candidates within the EDT program, fostering collaboration, peer support, and interdisciplinary exchanges.
• Contribute to an open-source platform (Artemis) and publish in international conferences and journals.
• Gain recognition in a rapidly growing field, with career prospects in academic research, industrial R&D, or entrepreneurship.

Upon completion, you will be positioned as a recognized expert in a key domain for industry and research, with diverse professional opportunities in France and internationally.

Qualifications

Required

• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, or related field
• Strong background in 3D graphics, visualization, or VR/AR/XR technologies
• Proficiency in programming languages (C#, C++)
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and French
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities

Preferred

• Experience with game engines (Unity, Unreal Engine, Godot) or 3D frameworks
• Knowledge of user experience design and evaluation methods
• Familiarity with web technologies and real-time systems
• Previous research experience in HCI or VR/AR/XR or related fields

Application Process

Please submit your application including:

1. Cover Letter: Explaining your motivation and research interests
2. Curriculum Vitae: Including academic background and relevant experience
3. Academic Transcripts: Master’s degree and relevant coursework
4. Research Statement: Brief description of your research interests and goals (1-2 pages)
5. References: Contact information for two academic or professional references

Application Deadline

June 30, 2026

Early applications are encouraged as the position may be filled before the deadline.

Contact Information

Supervisor: Professor Thierry Duval
Email: thierry.duval@imt-atlantique.fr
Phone: +33 2 29 00 14 67

Co-supervisor: Professor David Baudry
Email: dbaudry@cesi.fr
Phone: +33 7 62 46 28 97

About IMT Atlantique and Lab-STICC

IMT Atlantique is a leading French engineering school and research institution, part of the Institut Mines-Télécom. The school is recognized for its excellence in digital technologies, energy, and environment, with strong industry partnerships and international collaborations. https://www.imt-atlantique.fr/

The INUIT team of Lab-STICC conducts research on collaborative interaction in Mixed Reality, by designing Virtual and Augmented Reality systems by proposing models and metaphors evaluated through user experiments. https://labsticc.fr/en/teams/inuit

About CESI and CESI LINEACT

CESI engineering school supports engineering students through a customizable five-year education in four majors: Industrial engineering; Civil engineering and construction; Computer science and Embedded systems. CESI LINEACT research unit, a Digital Innovation Laboratory for Businesses and Learning in the service of Territorial Competitiveness, has built its positioning around CESI’s training areas and, in this respect, conducts research activities serving the fields of industry, sustainable cities, and digital services. https://www.cesi.fr/en/

The Engineering and Digital Tools research team of CESI LINEACT develops its research in the fields of modeling, simulation, optimization and control of complex systems, materials, and processes and human-system interactions in cyber-physical systems. https://lineact.cesi.fr/en/engineering-and-numerical-tools/presentation/