Undergraduate Research Assistant at Oakland University

Oakland University; Rochester (MI); Hybrid; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Hands-on experience with advanced robotics and AI technology

Mentorship from experienced researchers

Opportunities for publications and conference presentations

Collaborative work environment

Fully-funded MSc or direct PhD opportunity

Job summary

A leading educational institution in California is looking for a sophomore or junior undergraduate research assistant to support research in social robotics and affective computing. Responsibilities include assisting with human-robot interaction experiments, data collection, and developing AI-driven behaviors. Ideal candidates will have basic programming skills and an interest in robotics. This role offers hands-on experience and mentorship opportunities, with a stipend based on the university’s rate.

Qualifications

• Sophomore or Junior-year student in Computer Science or related field.
• Basic programming skills in Python are required.
• Interest in human-AI interaction and affective computing.

Responsibilities

• Assist in designing and running human-robot interaction experiments.
• Collect and annotate multimodal data including speech and facial expressions.
• Support development and testing of AI-driven robot behaviors.

Skills

Basic programming skills in Python

Interest in robotics

Familiarity with ROS or machine learning

Education

Sophomore or Junior-year student in relevant engineering or computer science

Job description

You are viewing a preview of this job. Log in or register to view more details about this job.

The IRL² Lab at Oakland University is seeking a SOPHOMORE or JUNIOR undergraduate research assistant to support ongoing research in social robotics and affective computing. Our mission is to advance emotionally intelligent and socially aware robotic systems that can interact naturally with people across diverse contexts.

Responsibilities

• Assist in designing and running human–robot interaction experiments.
• Collect and annotate multimodal data (speech, facial expression, body movement).
• Support development and testing of AI-driven robot behaviors.
• Contribute to data analysis and literature reviews.

Preferred Qualifications

• Sophomore or Junior-year student in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, or a related field at Oakland University
• Basic programming skills in Python; familiarity with ROS or machine learning is a plus.
• Interest in robotics, human‑AI interaction, and the connection of human science with affective computing

Benefits

• Hands‑on experience with advanced robotics and AI technology.
• Mentorship from experienced researchers.
• Opportunities for publications and conference presentations.
• A collaborative and innovative work environment.
• Undergrads research assistants stipend based on the OU rate.
• Opportunity to start a fully‑funded MSc or direct PhD after graduation.
• We start in January 2026.

To apply, send your resume and a brief statement of interest to [e-mail] with the subject line “Undergraduate RA Application-Social Robotics.”