Research & Development Internship - Human Performance 

​About Touchwaves

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At Touchwaves, we are building the next generation of human–machine interfaces.

We are a TNO spin-off working closely with defence partners to develop technology for environments where failure is not an option.

Most wearables today are incremental: slightly better batteries, marginally improved sensors, more apps layered on top.

We are not interested in incremental.

Touchwaves is developing next-generation wearable systems that operate where performance, reliability, and human limits collide. Our embodied haptics technology connects human physiology with intelligent systems, enabling pilots and operators to maintain situational awareness and perform at their best under extreme cognitive and physical stress.

Our platforms integrate sensing, embedded intelligence, and haptic actuation directly into garments and wearable safety equipment used by military and security professionals.

By combining science, engineering, and design, we build wearable systems that raise human performance in defence, aviation, and dual-use applications.

 

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Your role

We're looking for a Research & Development/Data Intern who can support the science behind our technology. From running participant studies to building the data and analysis pipeline that turns raw sensor signals into usable data streams.

You'll join research projects and start collecting trial data from your first weeks. You'll work closely with our research and engineering team, and take real ownership of how we measure, process, and interpret human performance data. 

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Key Responsibilities

Study Execution & Participant Testing

• Contribute to research projects investigating how vibrotactile stimulation affects human performance under a range of conditions, including high cognitive load. 

• Recruit for and run user studies, collect performance and physiological data, and maintain clean, well-documented datasets.

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Market & Technology Landscape

• Map existing commercial and research approaches to cognitive load and workload measurement across aviation, automotive, and adjacent domains.

• Evaluate methodologies and sensors to see what works in theory and practice.

• Determine what should be measured, how and under what constraints.

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Data & Sensing Pipeline

• Turn sensor input (heart rate, electrodermal activity, respiration, eye tracking) into usable data for our testing setups.

• Use off-the-shelf sensor systems and algorithms, or build your own (Python) pipelines to analyze the data.

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Analysis & Research Support

• Analyze and present both quantitative and qualitative data to internal and external audiences

• Apply machine learning where useful (e.g., classifying cognitive load state from multimodal physiological signals)

• Contribute to research documentation, whitepapers, and internal reports.

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Who We're Looking For

• A BSc or MSc student, or a recent graduate, in Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Science & AI, Cognitive Neuroscience, Human-Technology Interaction, Human Factors, Biomedical Engineering, or a related field.

• Comfortable reading and critically evaluating technical literature and vendor claims.

• Comfortable writing software: strong Python, and experience with data-science libraries (NumPy, pandas, scikit-learn); familiarity with a deep-learning framework such as PyTorch is a plus.

• Curious about human performance, physiological sensing, and applied research.

• Solid grounding in statistics and experimental methods. 

• Comfortable with recruiting participants for user testing using our network.

• Independent, structured, and comfortable in a small startup team.

• Fluent in English (Dutch or other European languages are a plus).

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Bonus Points

• Prior experience working in a company or startup setting.

• Hands-on experience with physiological signal processing (e.g. ECG, electrodermal activity, respiration) or tools such as NeuroKit2.

• Experience with eye tracking, wearable sensors, or other behavioural measurement setups.

• Familiarity with human factors or cognitive workload research.

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What We Offer

• A unique chance to work at the intersection of science, defence, and deep tech.

• Direct collaboration with engineers, scientists, and defence partners.

• Ownership of the data and analysis pipeline that will underpin our next generation of studies.

• Mentorship from a team spanning human factors, cognitive science, and engineering.

• A startup environment where your work directly shapes how we build and validate our technology.

• Access to innovation events, R&D discussions, and defence workshops.

• Internship allowance of €550 gross/month (based on 40h/week)

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How to Apply

Send us your CV and a short note about why this role excites you to hello@touchwaves.io. 

Curious but not sure if you're the perfect fit? Reach out anyway, we'd love to hear your perspective!

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