Research Intern - Efficient AI

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.

We are seeing massive growth in AI scenarios and increasing hardware diversity across cloud and edge. Today inference is a major challenge. The shift in trend towards deep learning models and the shift in trend towards large language models has exponentially increased the computation costs. In addition, the continuous evolving landscape, in models and hardware diversity, contributes to the complexity and difficulty of efficient inferencing.

Within our Systems Innovation research group, we approach this from a unified perspective of model/system optimization, hardware aware model architectures, and infrastructure optimization at the cloud and edge. We closely collaborate with multiple research teams and product groups across the globe. Some of the research problems we are currently working on include: dynamic model selection, hardware aware Neural Architecture Search (NAS) for large language models;

hybrid ML inference that spans cloud and edge; or, analytical performance models for model novel silicon.

We are looking for research interns to help advance the state of the art of efficient AI. The ideal candidate will have background in deep learning, model compression, and/or hardware, and the motivation and ambition to apply this in a real-world setting.

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.

• Currently enrolled in a PhD program in Computer Science, Mathematics, or a related STEM field.

• 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 above, you’ll need to submit a minimum of two reference letters for this position. 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.

• Experience with efficiency and scalability in machine learning, large language models, model compression/distillation, adaptive computation, approximate inference, and/or AI hardware.
• Excellent software development skills, preferable in Python.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience in conducting research and writing peer-reviewed publications.

The base pay range for this internship is USD $6,290 - $12,170 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 $8,060 - $13,240 per month.

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

Research Interns put inquiry and theory into practice. Alongside fellow doctoral candidates and some of the world’s best researchers, 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 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.