Research Intern: Cognitive and Social AI Modeling - Honda Research Institute USA

Research Intern: Cognitive and Social AI Modeling

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Research Intern: Cognitive and Social AI Modeling

Job Number: P25INT-10
​Honda Research Institute USA (HRI-US) is seeking a highly motivated Research Intern to contribute to research on computational models of cognition and social interaction. The position focuses on developing and analyzing models that capture how groups, communities, or intelligent systems interact and adapt in dynamic environments. The successful candidate will integrate methods from agent-based modeling, cognitive architectures, network modeling, and large language models (LLMs) to explore emergent collective behaviors and mechanisms of social reasoning. The intern will also participate in designing validation studies using simulation-based and counterfactual evaluation methods to assess model fidelity and explainability.
San Jose, CA

 

Key Responsibilities

 
  • Develop and validate agent-based, network-based, or hybrid computational models representing cognitive and social processes among individuals or communities.
  • Implement simulations to examine emergent group dynamics and assess model performance against empirical or synthetic benchmarks.
  • Design and run counterfactual or “what-if” experiments to analyze causal relationships and forecast potential system-level outcomes.
  • Collect, clean, and analyze structured and unstructured public datasets to support model calibration and validation.
  • Collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams to interpret model results, co-author research papers, and contribute to academic dissemination (e.g., conference and journal submissions).

 

Minimum Qualifications

 
  • Currently enrolled in a Ph.D. or Master’s program in Computer Science, Cognitive Science, Computational Social Science, Quantitative Economics, Applied Mathematics, or related quantitative disciplines.
  • Demonstrated research experience in computational modeling of cognitive, social, or collective systems.
  • Proficiency in Python, MATLAB, or similar analytical programming environments.
  • Strong communication and collaboration skills for interdisciplinary research.
  • Evidence of research contributions (e.g., publications, preprints, or conference submissions) in relevant venues such as AAAI, NeurIPS, ICLR, or CogSci.

 

Bonus Qualifications​

  • Active research interest in understanding human cognition, social reasoning, or community dynamics through computational modeling and simulation methods.
  • Experience with causal inference, counterfactual reasoning, or explainable AI applied to social or cognitive systems.
  • Proficiency in processing and analyzing unstructured data (e.g., text, behavioral traces, and open-source datasets).
  • Familiarity with using Large Language Models (LLMs) to model or simulate human and social cognitive architectures or behavioral patterns.

 

Years of Work Experience Required  0
Desired Start Date 5/18/2026
Internship Duration 3 Months
Position Keywords

​Agent-Based Modeling, Causal Modeling, Counterfactual Forecasting, Network Modeling, Large Language Models,

 Machine Learning, Cognitive Science, Data analysis (Python/R/MATLAB), Human-AI interaction, Social Cognition, Agentic AI 

Alternate Way to Apply

Send an e-mail to careers@honda-ri.com with the following:
- Subject line including the job number(s) you are applying for 
- Recent CV 
- A cover letter highlighting relevant background (Optional)

Please, do not contact our office to inquiry about your application status.