Job Description

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.
, located in the vibrant city of Vancouver, BC, Canada, our lab represents Microsoft Research Asia's expansion into the Asia-Pacific region. We're on a mission to transform the future of artificial intelligence by bridging the gap between cutting-edge general AI and the specialized, real-world applications that drive meaningful impact.
We are seeking multiple Research Interns working on AI-driven System design, advancing and exploring AI-driven methods for the system design with scalability, precision and cost-efficiency. You will be working with MSR researchers across Vancouver lab, Redmond Lab, Beijing lab and beyond to push forward the boundaries of system design and shape the next generation of intelligent systems.
We encourage students with diverse research backgrounds, including but not limited to multimodality, system, architecture, AI4Code, NLP, LLM and computer vision, to apply for this position.
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

• Conduct research on state-of-the-art AI-driven system methodologies and identify new opportunities to enhance system design from multiple perspectives.
• Leverage interdisciplinary expertise across NLP, LLMs, computer vision, and related domains to accelerate innovation in AI-driven systems.
• Develop, prototype, and optimize novel techniques or frameworks that improve the performance, efficiency, and scalability of AI-powered systems.
• Disseminate research findings through publications in peer-reviewed journals, top-tier conferences, and other relevant venues, and present results both internally and externally.
• Collaborate with researchers at MSR, across Microsoft, and beyond to advance and propel the research process.

Qualifications:
Required Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in a Master, or Ph.D. program in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Machine learning, Mathematics, or a related 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 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.
• 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

• Stay up to date with the latest developments across systems, large language models (LLMs), multimodality, and related domains.
• Possess strong programming skills, including rapid prototyping, efficient implementation, and performance optimization.
• Demonstrate an insightful understanding of intelligent systems and their underlying principles.
• Experience with LLM pre-training or post-training is a strong advantage.
• Open-minded and receptive to new ideas and interdisciplinary approaches.
• Proven publication record in top-tier venues such as OSDI, SOSP, ICML, NeurIPS, ICLR, CVPR, and ACL.

Intern - MSR- The typical base pay range for this role across Canada is CAD $5,600 - CAD $10,000 per month.
Find additional pay information here:
Microsoft accepts applications and processes offers for these roles on an ongoing basis.
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. 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 .

Skills Required