Social Systems Modeling Research Intern - Honda Research Institute USA

Social Systems Modeling Research Intern

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Social Systems Modeling Research Intern

Job Number: P24INT-57
Honda Research Institute USA (HRI-US) is seeking a motivated systems modeling Research Intern to develop models representing community/social system interactions, and assess impacts of interventions to such systems. The candidate will contribute towards designing and validating models using methods like network models or system-of-systems approach replicating communities (e.g., school, hospitals, etc.), and capture interactions across subsystems such as departments, organizations, and policy layers. The candidate will also evaluate the model robustiness by designing and evaluating "what-if" scenarios. The candidates would be required to explore and analyze public datasets representing system outcomes, and propose validation metrics to assess the fidelity and validity of the intervention impact.
San Jose, CA

 

Key Responsibilities

 
  • Design and validate network models that can replicate community networks (schools, hospitals, etc.) using frameworks that can replicate interactions between different subsystems in the community (e.g., interactions between different departments).
  • Implement agent-based/systems modeling/other network-based methodologies to validate emergent behaviors against historical benchmarks.
  • Design and test "what-if" scenarios to forecast societal impacts on community outcomes.
  • Collect, clean, and analyze publicly available datasets to validate the network models and validate the simulations.
  • Contribute to the interpretation of findings and preparation of research outputs, while closely collaborating with internal and external collaborators, while contributing to joint academic publications.

 

Minimum Qualifications

 
  • ​Currently enrolled in a Ph.D. or Master’s program in Computer Science, Cognitive Science, Quantitative Economics, Applied Math, Biostatistics, Operations Research or similar quantitative fields.
  • Research experience while working with methods involving network analysis and modeling for community/societal scale interactions (simulation or real-world).
  • Strong communication skills for collaborating across multiple stakeholders across domains while contributing to research outcomes.
  • Proficiency in Python, MATLAB, or similar tools for data analysis.
  • Contributed towards academic journals/conferences that contribute to Explainable-AI/DataScience conferences.

 

Bonus Qualifications

  • Currently pursuing research to understand complex societal problems through computational methods.
  • Good knowledge on exploring and analyzing unstructured publicly available datasets.
  • Background in conducting social science research through a computational modeling perspective in complex social domains like education or healthcare.
  • Experienced in causal inference, counterfactual forecasting for interdisciplinary problems (e.g., AI fairness, bias).

 

Years of Work Experience Required  0
Desired Start Date 1/19/2026
Internship Duration 3 Months
Position Keywords Causal modeling, counterfactual forecasting, network modeling, systems modeling, machine learning, cognitive science, data analysis (Python/R/MATLAB), human-AI impact research

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)

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