Robotics Intern, Trustworthy Learning under Uncertainty

Toyota Research Institute Inc.; Los Altos (CA); Hybrid; USD 62,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Paid time off

Job summary

Toyota Research Institute (TRI) invites researchers to join the Trustworthy Learning under Uncertainty (TLU) team as Research Interns for Summer 2027. Work on Robot Manipulation and foundation models using large datasets and simulation, with the goal of publications at top venues and real-world testing on TRI robots.

The position is a paid 12-week internship, hybrid in-office in California, with mentorship from research scientists and engineers across TRI, Toyota, and university partners.

Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Machine Learning, Robotics, or related fields.
• Publication or desire to publish at high‑impact conferences/journals on some of the mentioned topics.
• Proficiency with Python, Unix, and a Deep Learning framework such as PyTorch.
• Ability to collaborate with researchers and engineers to develop ideas.
• Reliable teammate who thinks big, goes deeper, and delivers with integrity.

Responsibilities

• Conduct research in Robot Manipulation solving problems of high practical or ethical value.
• Push boundaries of knowledge in Robot Manipulation and foundation models.
• Partner with multidisciplinary teams across the TLU team and Robotics division.
• Stay up to date on ML ideas and software.
• Present results at conferences and via open-source contributions.

Skills

Python

Teamwork

Communication

Education

PhD in ML/Robotics

Tools

PyTorch

Unix

Job description

At Toyota Research Institute (TRI), we’re on a mission to improve the quality of human life. We’re developing new tools and capabilities to amplify the human experience. To lead this transformative shift in mobility, we’ve built a world‑class team advancing the state of the art in AI, robotics, driving, and material sciences.

This is a paid 12‑week internship opportunity and is a hybrid, in‑office role.

Here’s a glimpse into the Internship experience from some of our TRI interns!

The Team

Our Trustworthy Learning under Uncertainty (TLU) team in the Robotics division is looking for Research Interns for Summer 2027 in a variety of areas such as Policy Evaluation, Failure Detection and Mitigation, as well as (Inter)Active and Continual Learning in the context of World Foundation Models (WFM) for Robot Manipulation. Our topics of interest include but are not limited to: Multi‑Modal Foundation Models, Generative Modeling, Imitation Learning, Reinforcement Learning, Planning & Control, Statistics, Uncertainty Estimation, Out‑of‑Distribution Detection, Safety‑Aware & Robust ML, (Inter)Active Learning, and Online / Continual Learning. We are aiming to make progress on some of the hardest scientific challenges around the safe and effective usage and development of machine learning algorithms within Robotics. To this end, the research mission of the TLU team is to enable the robust and reliable deployment of embodied foundation models at scale in human environments, while allowing for efficient adaptation to novel settings.

The Internship

As a Research Intern, you will work with a multidisciplinary team proposing, conducting, and transferring pioneering research in Machine Learning for Robot Manipulation. You will use large amounts of sensory data and simulation to solve open problems, work towards publications at top academic venues, and test your ideas in the real world, including on our robots, of course!

Responsibilities

• Conduct daring research primarily in Robot Manipulation that solves open problems of high practical and/or ethical value and validate it in real‑world benchmarks and systems.
• Push the boundaries of knowledge and the state‑of‑the‑art in Robot Manipulation and foundation models.
• Partner with a multidisciplinary team, including other research scientists and engineers across the TLU team, Robotics division, TRI, Toyota, and our university partners.
• Stay up to date on the state‑of‑the‑art in Machine Learning ideas and software.
• Present results in verbal and written communications at international conferences, internally, and via open‑source contributions to the community.

Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Machine Learning, Robotics, or related fields.
• Publication or desire to publish at high‑impact conferences/journals (e.g., CoRL, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML, UAI, AISTATS, AAAI, TMLR, RSS, ICRA, IROS, RA‑L, T‑RO, CDC, L4DC, etc.) on some of the aforementioned topics.
• Passionate about large scale challenges in Machine Learning grounded in physical systems, especially in the space of Robotics.
• Proficiency with one or more coding languages and systems, preferably Python, Unix, and a Deep Learning framework (e.g., PyTorch).
• Ability to collaborate with other researchers and engineers of the TLU team, and, more broadly, the Robotics division to invent and develop interesting research ideas.
• A reliable teammate who loves to think big, go deeper, and deliver with integrity.

The pay range for this position at commencement of employment is expected to be between $45 and $65/hour for California-based roles. Base pay offered will depend on multiple individualized factors, including, but not limited to, a candidate's experience, skills, job‑related knowledge, and market location. TRI offers a generous benefits package including medical, dental, and vision insurance, and paid time off benefits (including holiday pay and sick time). Additional details regarding these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.

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