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.

Are you passionate about shaping the future of AI agents? Do you thrive at the intersection of cutting-edge ML and systems research and real-world impact? We’re looking for Research Interns who are excited to tackle the toughest challenges in building reliable, safe, and efficient AI agents that perform meaningful tasks for users.

Recent breakthroughs in generative AI have opened the door to powerful agents—but making them truly dependable and scalable requires solving deep machine learning (ML) and systems problems. That’s where you come in.

🔍 What You’ll Work On

As part of our team, you’ll explore and innovate across a range of topics, including:

✅ Formal Verification: Modeling and verifying AI agent's behavior to ensure correctness.
⚙️ Reliability & Safety: Ensuring agents execute tasks without failure or unintended side effects.
🧠 Intelligent Task Handling: Designing agents that can efficiently manage complex workflows.
🔐 Secure Execution: Guaranteeing agents operate in isolation and only perform authorized tasks.
💡 Efficiency Optimization: Minimizing the number of steps, step latency, and costly interactions with LLM backends.
🛠️ Tooling for Developers: Building frameworks that accelerate agent development.

🌟 Why This Internship?

Collaborate with world-class researchers and engineers at Microsoft Research.
Work alongside product teams to bring your ideas to life.
Tackle real-world problems with the potential for massive impact.
Publish your work in top-tier conferences.

This is more than an internship—it’s a chance to shape the future of AI systems.

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.

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

Experience of building scalable and reliable AI systems.
Demonstrated ability to develop original research agenda.
Ability to collaborate effectively with other researchers and product development teams.
Proficient interpersonal skills, cross-group, and cross-culture collaboration.
Ability to think unconventionally to derive creative and innovative solutions.

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 - Systems for Reliable and Scalable AI Agents