Research Intern - Copilot Tuning

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 Microsoft Copilot Tuning Research team is seeking applications for the position of Research Intern to join their team in Redmond, WA; San Francisco Bay Area; New York City, NY; or Baltimore.

The mission of the Copilot Tuning Research team is to ensure that AI can be easily adapted and tuned to enable critical, high-value applications, including entirely new productivity tools. Our research leverages novel training and post-training algorithms, AI architecture, and agentic innovations to adapt M365 Copilot using customer-specific data and domain expert feedback to enable end-to-end fine-tuning and adaptation within the platform.

We are seeking Research Interns to join our team and contribute to advancing generative AI models, reinforcement learning methods, agentic systems and tool use, computer-use agents, evaluations, automated data curation, multimodal, embeddings, and related technologies. As a Research Intern, you will be at the forefront of developing and implementing cutting-edge technology in artificial intelligence. This role is ideal for candidates who are passionate about improving AI capabilities to handle increasingly complex tasks inspired by real customer needs. You will collaborate with a team of world-class researchers, applied scientists, engineers, and product managers. 

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.

Additional Responsibilities

• Perform cutting-edge and thorough research in collaboration with other researchers, applied scientists, and engineers
• Prepare detailed report of methodologies and findings, present results and insights, and demonstrate working prototypes
• Apply your in-depth knowledge, problem-solving skills, and drive to innovate to solve new challenges in the field and be given an opportunity to realize your ideas in products and services used worldwide.
• Embody our culture and values

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Accepted or currently enrolled in a PhD program in Computer Science or 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

• Ability to work in a dynamic, collaborative environment, through effective communication, with a multi-disciplinary team
• Track record of publications in the field of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and/or scientific journals
• Strong interest in real-world applications and impact
• Demonstrable ability to define an ambitious, original research agenda
• Experience in Python software development, ideally demonstrated by published software projects (e.g., Github)
• Experience implementing new AI systems or algorithms and running experiments and analyses to study and evaluate their performance
• Experience with training or post-training of LLMs, multimodal models, diffusion models, reasoning models, computer use agents, or building other related architectures or AI systems
• Willingness to embrace knowledge outside your field of research interest

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

Microsoft accepts applications and processes offers for these roles on an ongoing basis throughout the academic calendar (September - April).

 

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances.  We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form.

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.