Research Intern - Office of Applied Research

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 Office of Applied Research in Microsoft seeks outstanding Research Interns to conduct state-of-the-art applied research. Applied research is impact-driven research. It applies empirical techniques to real world problems in a way that transforms theory into reality, advancing the state-of-the-art in the process.

The Office of Applied Research brings together experts from Artificial Intelligence (AI), Computational Social Science (CSS), and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). We work closely with research and product partners to help to ensure Microsoft is doing cutting edge research towards our core product interests.

Our team is particularly interested in candidates with expertise in building, understanding, or applying Foundation Models as well as enhancing user experience in copilot systems that leverage these models. We are also looking for candidates with proven experience in various fields such as Generative AI, Foundation Models, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Human-centered AI, CSS, Dialog Systems, Recommender Systems or Information Retrieval.

Required Qualifications

• Accepted or currently enrolled in a PhD program in Computer Science, Information Science, Statistics, Information Systems, Economics, Operation Research or a related STEM field.
• At least 1 year of experience in conducting research and writing peer-reviewed publications.

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

• Ability to think unconventionally to derive creative and innovative solutions.
•  Actively conducting research in at least one of the following areas:
• Personalization or adaptation of Foundation Models (e.g. Personalized text generation)
•  LLM reasoning for complex intents (planning, multi-hop, interactive)
• Synthetic data generation for LLM evaluation and fine-tuning
• Understanding, verifying, or evaluating LLMs outputs
• Prompt optimization / compression / distillation
• Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)
• Agents (e.g. Memory, Goal management, Inter-Agent conversations)
• Knowledge Management (Information literacy, Disinformation, Production processes)
• Slow search (Resolving complex information queries)
• Model finetuning
• Ability to collaborate effectively with your mentor and others in Microsoft on research projects.
• Proficient interpersonal and communication skills, cross-group, and cross-culture collaboration skills.

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.