Research Scientist Intern, Audio User Experience (PhD)

Meta • Redmond, WA

1d • $7,650 - $12,667

About The Position

Meta Reality Labs Research is seeking PhD interns for its Audio User Experience team. The team works to create virtual sounds that are perceptually indistinguishable from reality and to redefine human hearing. Interns will study how people make sense of and live with future audio technologies, including what they notice, find difficult to describe, and consider important in their own words. The role focuses on how people emotionally experience audio, how immersion and presence feel, and how those experiences are remembered and recounted.

The position is suited to candidates with a background in psychology, cognitive science, anthropology, sociology, communication, human-computer interaction, human factors, or a similar field, and strong qualitative human-subjects research skills. Relevant methods include in-depth and elicitation interviewing, diary and longitudinal studies, contextual inquiry, field and in-home research, think-aloud protocols, and interpretive analysis of experiential data. Internships last 12 to 24 weeks, with start dates throughout the year. Specific projects are designed with successful applicants to align their skills and experience with current research needs.

Requirements

• Currently has or is in the process of obtaining a PhD in psychology, cognitive science, anthropology, sociology, communication, human-computer interaction, human factors, or a similar field.
• At least 2 years of experience conducting qualitative or mixed-methods human-subjects research, preferably focused on or adjacent to emotional, sensory, or immersive experience.
• At least 2 years of experience designing qualitative protocols and conducting interpretive analysis at the doctoral level, including hands-on experience with qualitative analysis tools or practices such as Dovetail, NVivo, ATLAS.ti, Dedoose, or systematic coding in spreadsheets.
• Expertise in one or more of the following: emotion and affective experience; presence and immersion; autobiographical or episodic memory and how experiences are recalled and recounted; attention and distraction; interpersonal connection and social closeness; or sensory and listening experience.
• Must obtain work authorization in the country of employment at the time of hire and maintain ongoing work authorization during employment.

Nice To Haves

• Experience studying how people experience sound, listening, or music, including research on listening effort, soundscapes, or audio-mediated communication.
• Familiarity with AR/VR technologies and/or hearables and wearable audio technologies.
• Experience with longitudinal, diary, in-home, or in-the-wild research, including recruiting and building rapport with participants from varied backgrounds.
• Experience eliciting hard-to-articulate experiences, such as emotional reactions, bodily or sensory responses, or recollected moments, using methods such as think-aloud, elicitation interviews, photo or audio diaries, or participatory sessions.
• A track record of significant results demonstrated by grants, fellowships, patents, or first-authored publications at leading venues such as ACM CHI, CSCW, Frontiers in Virtual Reality, or similar.
• Experience working and communicating cross-functionally in a team environment and translating qualitative insights for engineering and quantitative audiences.
• Intent to return to a degree program after completing the internship or co-op.

Responsibilities

• Conduct exploratory and generative qualitative research on how people emotionally experience audio in augmented and virtual reality, including feelings of presence, intimacy, effort, disorientation, and how these shape adoption or abandonment.
• Design and conduct qualitative studies, including interview protocols, diary studies, contextual and field research, and participatory sessions focused on experiences with new audio technologies.
• Analyze qualitative data such as transcripts, observational notes, audio/video, and open-ended responses using thematic, grounded-theory, or discourse-analytic approaches; synthesize findings into frameworks, journeys, and experiential models.
• Collaborate with researchers, engineers, and designers across disciplines, including partnering with quantitative colleagues to triangulate findings.
• Communicate research framing, progress, and interpretation clearly through narrative, verbatim, and visual storytelling to inform product and research decisions.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Intern
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree