Overview

Research Internships at Microsoft provide a dynamic environment for research careers with a network of world-class research labs led by globally-recognized scientists and engineers, who pursue innovation in a range of scientific and technical disciplines to help solve complex challenges in diverse fields, including computing, healthcare, economics, and the environment.

The Microsoft Applied Sciences Group incubates disruptive technologies for Microsoft’s next-gen hardware products and is working on several exciting projects that will shape how computers and other devices perceive the user and the user’s environment. Operating as a startup within the company, this team works closely with several research and product teams to bring compelling new experiences to the market. A lot of these experiences are powered by machine learning – and as part of this team, you will have the unique opportunity to work on almost every aspect of a machine learning project - from ideation to shipping. You will have the opportunity to turn ideas into reality with real-world impact at Microsoft scale.

As a Research Intern, you will have the opportunity to design and lead the implementation of state-of-the-art language and multimodal models to transform the Windows experience. You will have the opportunity to collaborate with people at the forefront of their field from across the organization and see your ideas turn ideas into reality with real-world impact at Microsoft scale. This is a hands-on role.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Responsibilities

Research Interns put inquiry and theory into practice. Alongside fellow doctoral candidates and some of the world’s best researchers, Research Interns learn, collaborate, and network for life. Research Interns not only advance their own careers, but they also contribute to exciting research and development strides. During the 12-week internship, Research Interns are paired with mentors and expected to collaborate with other Research Interns and researchers, present findings, and contribute to the vibrant life of the community. Research internships are available in all areas of research, and are offered year-round, though they typically begin in the summer.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

Currently enrolled in a PhD program in Computer Science or a related STEM field.
At least 2 years' experience conducting research as part of a research program in academic or industry setting in the area of Large Language Models (LLMs), multimodal models, agents and/or reinforcement learning.

Other Requirements

Research Interns are expected to be physically located in their manager’s Microsoft worksite location for the duration of their internship.
In addition to the qualifications below, you’ll need to submit a minimum of two reference letters for this position as well as a cover letter and any relevant work or research samples. After you submit your application, a request for letters may be sent to your list of references on your behalf. Note that reference letters cannot be requested until after you have submitted your application, and furthermore, that they might not be automatically requested for all candidates. You may wish to alert your letter writers in advance, so they will be ready to submit your letter.

Preferred Qualifications

Passion for incubating new ideas, solving problems, and building working prototypes.
Experience training and/or finetuning large language models, model compression, distillation to small language models. 
Experience with Python and deep learning libraries.
Desire to learn to create reusable software libraries and packages.
Experience using dataset curation, data generation using prompting state of art LLMs and/or model alignment.
Experience with reinforcement learning libraries or formal methods and verification is a plus.
Experience of scientific writing in top-tier conferences or journals (ICLR, ACL, EMLP, ICML, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, NeurIPS, TPAMI, etc.).

The base pay range for this internship is USD $6,710 - $13,270 per month. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $8,760 - $14,360 per month.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-intern-pay

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.

Research Intern - Foundational Models & Agents