Research Research Engineer​/Scientist - R&D Internship – SVL San Jose

Join the pioneering Software Innovation Lab team at IBM Software and contribute to shaping the future foundations of artificial intelligence. Our group of scientists and engineers are dedicated to conducting end-to-end research that delivers real-world AI impact through a rigorous, responsible, and open innovation framework. We are the R&D team that is the innovation engine of IBM Software. We are shaping the technologies that IBM customers rely on – today and in the future.

As an intern, you will explore cutting-edge research areas including data management and processing, building systems where AI plans, use external APIs, execute multi-step tasks independently, develop enterprise agents with rigorous evaluation gates and compliance guardrails, identify new algorithms for training, and fine-tune LLMs – all within a collaborative environment that bridges fundamental science and transformative engineering.

Your role and responsibilities

As an AI Research Scientist Intern, you will engage in the full research lifecycle to pioneer new advancements in streaming and batch data processing & management and artificial intelligence. Your role will involve identifying core challenges, designing novel prototype solutions, and validating them through rigorous experimentation. You will conduct foundational research in critical areas such as agentic systems and databases, novel training algorithms, efficient fine-tuning, agentic architectures and their application to the data domain.

Collaborating in small, mentored teams, you will be responsible for shepherding projects from ideation to completion. A key objective is to disseminate significant results through publications in leading conferences and patent applications, contributing to both the academic community and IBM software products/ initiatives.

Program Dates: Internship start dates vary based on your academic calendar.
Semester System: May 24, 2027 – August 13, 2027
Quarter System: June 14, 2027 – September 3, 2027
Candidates must be available to participate for the full duration of the internship corresponding to your academic schedule.

Location Flexibility:
By applying to this requisition, you acknowledge and agree to be considered for any of the listed locations associated with this position and are willing to work at the location where you are ultimately assigned.

Required education

High School Diploma/GED

Preferred education

Doctorate Degree

Required technical and professional expertise

Research Experience with Modern ML:
Hands-on experience with agentic AI and a deep theoretical understanding of Large Language Models (LLMs), Task Specific Small Language Models and Transformer-based architectures. Understanding of technologies such as Kafka, Flink, PostgreSQL, Lakehouse and SQL

Strong Programming & Prototyping

Skills:

Proficiency in Python for rapid prototyping, experimental setup, and implementing large-scale machine learning systems.

Rigorous Analytical & Problem-Solving Abilities:
Demonstrated strength in quantitative analysis, designing experiments, and deconstructing complex research problems.

Proven Research & Communication

Skills:

A track record of innovation (evidenced by peer-reviewed publications or strong preprints) and the ability to clearly articulate complex technical concepts in both writing and presentations.

Collaborative Research Mindset: A team-oriented approach with a commitment to rigorous, reproducible, and well-documented research practices.

Preferred technical and professional experience

Research Excellence:
Strong publication record in top-tier conferences (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, VLDB, SIGMOD etc).

Technical Proficiency:
Advanced expertise in ML frameworks (PyTorch) and full-cycle development of algorithms and systems.

Specialized

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