Research Intern — AI and Quantum Algorithms for Optimization 2027

Introduction

At IBM Research, we build what's next in computing. Our teams work at the intersection of quantum information science, artificial intelligence, and high-performance computing - advancing quantum-centric supercomputing, where quantum processors and classical HPC resources work together to solve problems that neither can address alone. As a research intern, you will join a team of scientists and engineers working on the algorithmic foundations of this vision: designing, analyzing, and benchmarking quantum and hybrid quantum-classical algorithms for optimization and scientific computing, and exploring how AI and agentic systems can accelerate algorithm discovery and workflow orchestration. You will have access to IBM's fleet of utility-scale quantum computers, the Qiskit software stack, and the classical computing infrastructure that surrounds them. This is a hands-on research role. Interns are expected to contribute original technical work, and strong outcomes frequently lead to publications at leading venues, open-source contributions, and continued collaboration with IBM Research.

Your role and responsibilities

You will work with IBM Research scientists on the design and analysis of algorithms for quantum and quantum-centric supercomputing, with a focus on optimization. Specifically, you will:

• Design, implement, and analyze quantum, classical, and hybrid quantum-classical algorithms for optimization problems, including model-based (e.g. MILP, conic, nonlinear) and data-driven formulations.
• Develop and benchmark quantum optimization approaches - variational and non-variational methods, quantum-enhanced heuristics, and circuit-cutting or sampling-based hybrid workflows - on IBM quantum hardware and simulators.
• Contribute to quantum-centric supercomputing workflows that partition problems across QPUs and classical HPC resources, and characterize where quantum resources provide advantage.
• Establish rigorous performance baselines against state-of-the-art classical solvers, and carry out complexity, scaling, and resource-estimation analyses.
• Explore the use of AI and agentic systems for algorithm design, hyperparameter and ansatz search, code generation, and automated experiment orchestration.
• Implement research prototypes in Python (Qiskit and the broader scientific Python ecosystem), with clean, reproducible, and well-documented code.
• Present results in team meetings, contribute to technical reports, papers, and patent disclosures, and where appropriate contribute to open-source projects.

Required education

Bachelor's Degree

Preferred education

Master's Degree

Required technical and professional expertise

• Quantum computing (required). Solid working knowledge of quantum information and quantum algorithms - circuit model, Hamiltonian simulation, variational and sampling-based algorithms, noise and error mitigation - with practical experience implementing and running circuits (e.g. Qiskit).
• Strong mathematical and algorithmic foundations: linear algebra, probability, discrete mathematics and combinatorics, algorithm design and analysis, and computational complexity.
• Programming proficiency in Python, including scientific and numerical libraries (NumPy, SciPy), plus the software discipline to produce reproducible experiments and readable, version-controlled code.
• Demonstrated research ability: framing a problem precisely, designing and running rigorous experiments, and communicating results clearly in writing and in talks.
• Depth in one or more of the following, in addition to quantum: model-based optimization (linear/integer/convex/nonlinear programming, metaheuristics); data-driven optimization and machine learning (including learning-to-optimize and surrogate models); quantum optimization; quantum-centric supercomputing and hybrid quantum-classical algorithm development; agentic AI and LLM-based systems; theory of computation.

Preferred technical and professional experience

• Publications or preprints in quantum computing, optimization, theoretical computer science, or machine learning venues.
• Hands-on experience running experiments on real quantum hardware, including transpilation, error mitigation and suppression, and interpreting hardware noise.
• Experience with commercial or open-source optimization solvers (CPLEX, Gurobi, MOSEK, SCIP, OR-Tools) and modeling frameworks (JuMP, Pyomo, CVXPY, DOcplex).
• Experience with HPC environments: distributed and parallel computing, GPU acceleration, job schedulers, and tensor-network or large-scale simulation tooling.
• Experience building agentic AI systems - tool use, multi-agent orchestration, retrieval, and evaluation of LLM-driven workflows - particularly applied to scientific or mathematical problem solving.
• Familiarity with quantum error correction, fault-tolerant algorithm design, or resource estimation.
• Open-source contributions, especially to Qiskit or related quantum or optimization libraries.
• Additional programming experience in C/C++, Julia, or Rust.
• Fluency in written and spoken English.

ABOUT BUSINESS UNIT

IBM Research is the organic growth engine of IBM and an innovation engine for our customers and partners. As part of this mission, IBM Research anticipates and examines 'What's Next in Computing' to ultimately create and integrate the technologies the world relies upon to solve big challenges and unlock new opportunities. We create and pioneer new markets for IBM, our partners and customers as exemplified in our ongoing quest to reach practical and large-scale quantum computing. Across IBM Research, we realize the power and potential to accelerate discovery with our partners and clients by combining the power of high performance computing, AI, and Quantum, all integrated through the hybrid cloud.

YOUR LIFE @ IBM

In a world where technology never stands still, we understand that, dedication to our clients success, innovation that matters, and trust and personal responsibility in all our relationships, lives in what we do as IBMers as we strive to be the catalyst that makes the world work better.

Being an IBMer means you'll be able to learn and develop yourself and your career, you'll be encouraged to be courageous and experiment everyday, all whilst having continuous trust and support in an environment where everyone can thrive whatever their personal or professional background.

Our IBMers are growth minded, always staying curious, open to feedback and learning new information and skills to constantly transform themselves and our company. They are trusted to provide on-going feedback to help other IBMers grow, as well as collaborate with colleagues keeping in mind a team focused approach to include different perspectives to drive exceptional outcomes for our customers. The courage our IBMers have to make critical decisions everyday is essential to IBM becoming the catalyst for progress, always embracing challenges with resources they have to hand, a can-do attitude and always striving for an outcome focused approach within everything that they do.

Are you ready to be an IBMer?

ABOUT IBM

IBM's greatest invention is the IBMer. We believe that through the application of intelligence, reason and science, we can improve business, society and the human condition, bringing the power of an open hybrid cloud and AI strategy to life for our clients and partners around the world.

Restlessly reinventing since 1911, we are not only one of the largest corporate organizations in the world, we're also one of the biggest technology and consulting employers, with many of the Fortune 500 companies relying on the IBM Cloud to run their business.

At IBM, we pride ourselves on being an early adopter of artificial intelligence, quantum computing and blockchain. Now it's time for you to join us on our journey to being a responsible technology innovator and a force for good in the world.

IBM is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, pregnancy, disability, neurodivergence, age, or other characteristics protected by the applicable law. IBM is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.

OTHER RELEVANT JOB DETAILS

Supplemental 1 employees may be eligible for up to 8 paid holidays, minimum of 56 hours paid sick time and the IBM Employee Stock Purchase Plan. IBM offers paid family medical leave and disability benefits to eligible employees where required by applicable law. This position was posted on the date cited in the key job details section and is anticipated to remain posted for 15 days from this date or less if not needed to fill the role. We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable law.

The compensation range and benefits for this position are based on a full-time schedule for a full calendar year. The salary will vary depending on your job-related skills, experience and location. Pay increment and frequency of pay will be in accordance with employment classification and applicable laws. For part time roles, your compensation and benefits will be adjusted to reflect your hours. Benefits may be pro-rated for those who start working during the calendar year.

Job Title

Research Intern - AI and Quantum Algorithms for Optimization 2027

Date posted

10-Sep-2026

Job ID

132434

City / Township / Village

Yorktown Heights

State / Province

New York

Country

United States

Work arrangement

Onsite

Area of work

Research

Employment type

Co-Op (Fixed Term)

Contract type

Internship

Projected Minimum Salary per year

89,280.00

Projected Maximum Salary per year

163,680.00

Position type

Internship

Travel required

No Travel

Company

(0147) International Business Machines Corporation

Shift

General (daytime)

Is this role a commissionable/sales incentive based position?

No