Research Intern - AI Frontiers - Foundation Model Evaluation and Understanding

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  at Microsoft Research in Redmond, WA is looking for Research Interns to advance the state of the art in evaluating and understanding the responsible development of foundational models with a focus on real-world use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Our lab conducts influential research published at top-tier venues in AI and machine learning (ML) including Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS), International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), and ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAccT). The lab also works within Microsoft’s Responsible AI ecosystem to impact our AI-driven technologies such as Azure, Office, and Bing.

We seek Research Interns with demonstrated ability for technical work and a proven record of influential publications on Artificial Intelligence.

For this role you need keen interest in rigorous evaluation, understanding, and innovation on foundational models. Research areas of particular interest for this team include but are not limited to: Reliability & robustness of AI systems, rigorous evaluation and benchmarking, reasoning and planning in AI, advances in AI interpretability, bias and fairness, and safety in real-world deployments.

Our group takes a holistic approach to studying foundational models that includes a variety of data modalities (language, vision, multi-modal, and structured data) and modern model architectures.

Priority will be given to candidates with a proven publication record in top-tier conferences, who have demonstrated the ability to develop original research and perform hands-on research, and who work well in a collaborative and dynamic environment. 

Required Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in PhD program with relevant STEM major.
• At least 1 year of research experience in one of the following research areas: reliability & robustness of AI systems, rigorous evaluation and benchmarking, reasoning and planning in AI, advances in AI interpretability, bias and fairness, and safety in real-world deployments.

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 publishing academic papers as a lead author or essential contributor.
• Experience participating in a top conference in relevant research domain.
• Demonstrated ability to develop original research agendas.
• Ability to work in a collaborative environment with multi-disciplinary teams. Active participation in the scientific community.
• Well-established research record of publications in top-tier journals/conferences.
• Hands-on experience with popular machine learning frameworks (e.g. pytorch, tensorflow, scikit-learn) and cloud platforms.
• Experience with training and evaluating machine learning models for Natural Language Processing, Vision, and Multimodal tasks. Experience with one data type is sufficient but candidates should be open to collaborating in projects that study a variety or a combination of modalities.
• A team player who is interested in developing next-generation platforms and tools for Machine Learning as well as conducting state-of-the-art research.

The base pay range for this internship is USD $6,550 - $12,880 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 $8,480 - $13,920 per month.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: 

Microsoft accepts applications and processes offers for these roles on an ongoing basis.

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.

Additional Responsibilities

• Execute research directions that are at the forefront of innovation in AI on methods for understanding and evaluating large foundation models.
• Create synergies on joint, high-impact projects in collaboration with other researchers, engineers, and product group partners.
• Work closely with other researchers in the teams on a research problem.