PhD Researcher, Multimodal AI for Human Experience

Location: Boston, MA, USA; hirify.global's Flexible Workplace approach supports office, remote, and hybrid work based on business and team needs. In-person onboarding and/or identity verification may be required.

Salary: $118,560–$162,240 annualized base salary for PhD students.

Company

hirify.global develops software for designing and making buildings, products, factories, and media.

What you will do

• Research multimodal AI methods for understanding built environments and human experience.
• Develop methods using foundation models, AI agents, and world models.
• Work with visual, spatial, behavioral, and physiological datasets.
• Design experiments and benchmarks that compare AI predictions with human responses.
• Build and evaluate research prototypes for real and simulated environments.
• Document and communicate findings through papers, presentations, and demonstrations.

Requirements

• Currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Computational Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, HCI, Robotics, Computational Design, or a related field, with completion expected in 2028 or later.
• Research experience in AI/ML, computer vision, human perception, or a related computational field.
• Strong programming skills, ideally with Python and modern machine learning frameworks.
• Experience designing computational experiments and working with complex datasets.
• Strong collaboration and communication skills.

Nice to have

• Experience with multimodal AI, vision-language models, world models, AI agents, or spatial intelligence.
• Experience with 3D, simulation, virtual environments, human-centered AI, or human perception.
• Experience with physiological or behavioral signals such as EEG or eye tracking, or with human-subject research.
• Experience in AEC, computational design, or hirify.global tools such as Forma.

Culture & Benefits

• Paid 16-week research internship program running from May 24 to September 10, 2027.
• Flexible Workplace approach supporting office, remote, and hybrid work according to business and team needs.
• Opportunities to learn from industry leaders and participate in technology talks and development activities.
• Work with a multidisciplinary research team spanning AI, spatial computing, AEC, and human perception.