Internship - Human-Robot Interaction Based on Multimodal Scene Understanding

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 67,000 - 89,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation stipend

Travel coverage

Charlie Card for local commuting

Health insurance eligibility after 90/

Immigration support

Job summary

Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs, Inc. (MERL) invites a graduate student intern to advance multimodal scene understanding, with emphasis on language-guided robot dialog and indoor monitoring using large language models.

The intern will collaborate with MERL researchers to derive and implement new models, run experiments, and prepare results for publication; internships often lead to publications contributing to the intern's doctoral work.

Qualifications

• Senior PhD student with strong background in multimodal ML, NLP, and DL.
• Proficient in Python and PyTorch; experience with ROS2 is essential.
• Comfort with publishing results and presenting at conferences.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with MERL researchers to develop new models and optimization methods.
• Run experiments and analyze results; prepare publications for top venues.
• Contribute to the internship's academic output and potential doctoral work.

Skills

Python programming

Deep learning fundamentals

English communication

Education

PhD candidate (senior)

Tools

ROS2

PyTorch

Python

C/C++

Job description

We are looking for a graduate student interested in advancing the field of multimodal scene understanding, focusing on scene understanding using natural language for robot dialog and/or indoor monitoring with a large language model. The intern will collaborate with MERL researchers to derive and implement new models and optimization methods, conduct experiments, and prepare results for publication. Internships regularly lead to one or more publications in top-tier venues, which can later become part of the intern's doctoral work. The ideal candidates are senior Ph.D. students with experience in deep learning for audio-visual, signal, and natural language processing. Good programming skills in Python and knowledge of deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch are essential. Multiple positions are available with a flexible start date (not just Spring/Summer but throughout 2026) and duration (typically 3-6 months).

Required Specific Experience

• Experience with ROS2, C/C++, Python, and deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch are essential.

The pay range for this internship position will be 6-8K per month.

Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs, Inc. "MERL" provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, MERL complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

MERL expresses prohibits any form of workplace harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status. Improper interference with the ability of MERL’s employees to perform their job duties may result in discipline up to and including discharge.

Working at MERL requires full authorization to work in the U.S and access to technology, software and other information that is subject to governmental access control restrictions, due to export controls. Employment is conditioned on continued full authorization to work in the U.S and the availability of government authorization for the release of these items, which might include without limitation, obtaining an export license or other documentation. MERL may delay commencement of employment, rescind an offer of employment, terminate employment, and/or modify job responsibilities, compensation, benefits, and/or access to MERL facilities and information systems, as MERL deems appropriate, to ensure practical compliance with applicable employment law and government access control restrictions.

• In addition to base pay, interns receive a relocation stipend, covered travel to and from MERL, and a monthly Charlie Card for local commuting.
• Interns are invited to participate in weekly social gatherings and professional development opportunities, including research talks by both internal and external speakers.
• Interns who meet the 90-day waiting period are also eligible for health insurance coverage.
• MERL provides immigration support for qualified candidates as needed.
• Employment is considered at-will, and the Company reserves the right to modify base salary or any other compensation program at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, departmental or Company performance, and market conditions.