Entry Level Cognitive Science Research Jobs in California

Overview

The Human Sleep Research Program within SRI's Center for Health Sciences conducts multidisciplinary research to better understand sleep and its relationship with health and behavior. Our work spans a variety of research areas, including wearable technologies for measuring sleep and physiology, sleep deprivation, women's health, neuropsychology, and neuroimaging.

This internship offers the opportunity to contribute to multiple human research studies and gain hands-on exposure to a wide range of research methods and technologies. Our studies collect rich, multimodal data including overnight EEG recordings, wearable-derived biosignals such as physical activity and heart rate, cognitive and neuropsychological assessments, clinical and self-report measures, bioassays, and multimodal MRI. Interns will work alongside an interdisciplinary research team and gain practical experience across different stages of clinical and translational sleep research. The position is particularly well suited for someone interested in gaining broad research experience while contributing to studies with applications to human health and emerging health technologies.

The internship will be on-site in our Menlo Park, CA office. This is a part-time year round role, 10-20 hours per week. Candidates must be able to work overnight shifts.

Responsibilities

• Support multiple human sleep research studies conducted within the Human Sleep Research Program.

• Assist with participant-facing research visits, including overnight, evening, afternoon, and early-morning study procedures.

• Ability to remain awake, alert, and attentive throughout overnight research shifts.

• Assist with collection of physiological and behavioral research data, including overnight EEG/sleep recordings, wearable device data, cognitive and neuropsychological assessments, self-report and clinical measures, and bioassays.

• Support collection of multimodal MRI data and other study-specific procedures as needed.

• Assist with research data entry, organization, quality control, and preparation for analysis.

• Contribute to data analysis and visualization projects, potentially including analyses of wearable, sleep, cognitive, physiological, and neuroimaging data.

• Follow study protocols and research procedures to ensure accurate, consistent, and high-quality data collection.

• Work collaboratively with research staff across multiple projects and assist with other research activities as needed.

Qualifications

• Current Bachelors/Masters/PhD student in psychology, neuroscience, biology, cognitive science, or a related field.

• Candidates must be a US Citizen

• Interest in sleep research a plus

• Detail-oriented and good organizational skills are highly desired

The salary range is: $17.55-$23/hr. Salary ranges will vary and are based on several factors, including geographic location, market competitiveness and equity amongst internal employees in similar roles. Positions may also qualify for SRI's Pay for Outstanding Performance program or the annual Performance Based Compensation program. SRI also has a competitive benefits package, to view details please go to https://www.sri.com/resources/benefits/. SRI will accept applications until the position is filled.

SRI is an independent nonprofit research institute headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif., with a rich history of supporting government and industry. We create and deliver world-changing solutions for a safer, healthier, and more sustainable future. For almost 80 years, we have collaborated across technical and scientific disciplines to discover and develop groundbreaking products and technologies and bring innovations and ideas to the marketplace.

Background Check

Candidates who receive a conditional offer of employment will be subject to a background check.

EOE/AA

SRI is an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class.

At SRI

We value different identities, perspectives and experiences. An inclusive working environment that nurtures a culture of belonging strengthens our ability to create and deliver world-changing solutions for a safer, healthier, and more sustainable future.

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Job Locations US-CA-Menlo Park

ID 2026-6454

Category Internship

Position Type Temporary Part-Time

Worker Type On-Site