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Internship – Virtual Humans Development

- Vacancy-

Internship – Virtual Humans Development (Negotiable)

Posted on December 15, 2025

Start Date: 02/02/2026

Duration: Negotiable

FTE: 1

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Join our cutting-edge research and development team as an intern and immerse yourself in the world of virtual humans! As a Virtual Humans Development Intern, you will contribute to Cradle’s ambitious projects around emotional, expressive virtual humans. Experience or familiarity with Unreal Engine (ideally UE 5) is required.

About Cradle

Cradle is the Research & Development lab of the Academy for AI, Games & Media at Breda University of Applied Sciences. At this lab, cutting-edge, innovative games and media applications are designed and developed through projects conducted on behalf of and befitting four professorships: Digital Media Concepts; Creative & Entertainment Games; Serious Games, Innovation & Society; and Applied Data Science & Artificial Intelligence. Most of the projects at Cradle involve external partners and are funded by secondary (e.g. national or EU research grants) and tertiary sources (project-based contracts). Cradle has its own staff pool of experienced, tech-savvy researchers, lecturers, designers, and developers. It also offers internships, individual graduation projects, collaborative team projects, as well as support, facilities, and equipment to students, staff, and partners.

Example responsibilities

As a Virtual Humans Development Intern, you will contribute to Cradle’s ambitious projects around emotional, expressive virtual humans. Your exact responsibilities will depend on your background, skill set, and personal interests. Examples include:

  • Develop Hyper-Realistic Emotional Expressions – Create and implement FACS-based (Facial Action Coding System) expressions for MetaHumans using motion capture and the MetaHuman Creator.
  • Build Interactive Virtual Humans – Develop and configure virtual humans as interactive agents for behavioural experiments, enabling real-time interaction with study participants.
  • Unreal Engine & MetaHuman Systems – Implement and optimise systems in Unreal Engine 5 that support expressive avatars, procedural animations, and parameter-driven behaviours for experimental use.
  • Collaboration & Networking – Work alongside Cradle researchers, Unreal developers, and external stakeholders; possibly help at digital realities events and present your results.

What we offer?

  • A financial compensation.
  • A front-seat position in pioneering emotional virtual human research.
  • Access to Cradle’s high-end hardware (XR stage, mocap systems) and software.
  • Support from BUas developers and researchers involved in the projects, providing mentorship and guidance.
  • Opportunity to propose and drive your own ideas.

Qualification requirements

  • You must receive ECTS for doing an internship as part of your study programme.
  • You are enrolled in a bachelor’s or master’s programme (WO, HBO, or equivalent).
  • Preferred backgrounds include but are not limited to: Game & Media Technology, Data Science, Cognitive Science, Artificial Intelligence, Human–Computer Interaction, or related fields.
  • Experience or familiarity with Unreal Engine (ideally UE 5).
  • Fast learner interested in hyper-realistic virtual humans and interactive characters.
  • Good communication skills and flexibility; willingness to collaborate with technical and non-technical partners.
  • You are available for doing your placement from February/March 2026 onward. Start/end date is negotiable.

Bonus skills

  • Experience or familiarity with UE MetaHumans.

How to apply?

Interested or do you have any questions? Please send your CV and short motivation to Ekaterina Uzunova (uzunova.e@buas.nl). The deadline for applying is 20 January 2026.

About our virtual human projects