Research Intern - Azure AI: Machine Translation

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.

The Cognitive Services Machine Translation team in the Azure AI organization. The mission of our team is to break language barriers and make fundamental contributions to advancing the state‑of‑the‑art in machine translation, in the broader research community and within Microsoft. In this position, you will conduct research under the supervision of Microsoft mentors. As a research intern, you will have the opportunity to prototype, demonstrate, implement and publish your results.

We are looking for passionate research interns to work on cutting edge research in various machine translation areas, including large‑scale multilingual models, customization, analysis, adaptation, robustness and efficient training and runtime.

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.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in a PhD program in Computer Science or a related field.
• At least one year of experience in machine translation and natural language processing with hands‑on deep learning experience.

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.

Preferred Qualifications

• Proficient algorithmic problem solving and software development skills (Python, C/C++, etc.).
• Experience with open‑source machine learning tools such as PyTorch.
• Track record of publications in MT, NLP or ML related conferences (e.g., ACL, NAACL, EMNLP, WMT, ICML, NeurIPS).

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:

Microsoft accepts applications and processes offers for these roles on an ongoing basis.

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.