Research Science PhD Intern - AI & Data

The Microsoft AI for Good Research Lab is a dedicated team within Microsoft Research, launched in 2018, that partners with NGOs, governments, and universities to solve complex global challenges using AI, machine learning, and data science. It focuses on accelerating solutions for sustainability, humanitarian action, and public health.

Role: AI for Good Research Lab Intern

Duration: 6 months starting July 2026

Location: Nairobi, Kenya – 3 days onsite

Come build community, explore your passions and do your best work at Microsoft with thousands of University interns from every corner of the world. This opportunity will allow you to bring your aspirations, talent, potential—and excitement for the journey ahead.

The AI for Good Research Lab uses AI and data to address some of the greatest challenges facing humanity. We are headquartered in Redmond, WA, and have one of our offices in Nairobi, Kenya.

We work on issues that will improve societies and environments with a focus on food and water security, disaster response and early warning, biodiversity and conservation. Our technical specialties are in areas as diverse as geospatial imagery, computer vision, bioacoustics, and language models.

If you have experience in large language models, computer vision, statistics, and geospatial machine learning, you have a fantastic opportunity to join the AI for Good team that is led by Microsoft’s Chief Data Scientist.

As a Research Science PhD Intern, you will conduct research and leads research collaborations that yield new insights, theories, analyses, data, algorithms, and/or prototypes that advance the state-of-the-art of computer science and engineering, as well as general scientific knowledge. You will formulate research problems in an area of study and initiates the design, development, execution and implementation of a research agenda to further existing knowledge and close identified gapsYou will be well-positioned to tackle foundational problems with a clear path to real-world impact, in close collaboration with domain experts and key stakeholders.

We are seeking candidates excelling in deep thinking research aspects and fast-paced entrepreneurial execution. The ideal candidates should have the ability to work with researchers and product team colleagues at Microsoft AI for Good Lab to push forward research agendas, being a team player in a collaborative and supportive environment with outstanding programming skills. We are seeking candidates with research skills and technical backgrounds. Applicants should demonstrate depth of knowledge in Natural Language Understanding, Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Algorithmic Foundations of Optimization, Data Mining or Machine Intelligence (Artificial Intelligence) as well as strong academia experience in data processing, experimentation, and modeling.

Microsoft works with the world’s best researchers, moving with the current of technology as it rapidly evolves. Together we share the motivation to seek innovative solutions to the world’s toughest challenges and improve the lives of people everywhere. Microsoft provides a nurturing environment to support passionate researchers and engineers in AI technology innovation.

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.

What you’ll do

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. Interns not only advance their own careers, but they also contribute to exciting research and development strides. 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.

Responsibilities include:

• Review existing literature and identify gaps in the state-of-the-art and formulate research questions
• Design experiments that apply cutting-edge research in machine intelligence and machine learning. Implement prototypes of scalable systems in AI applications.
• Collaborate closely with team members and potential external collaborators on developing systems from prototyping to production level.
• Under instruction from others, research new tools, technologies, and methods being used in the research community and contribute your knowledge around a specialized tool/method to support planning for research projects.

About you

Required Qualifications (RQs)

• Must be currently enrolled in a PhD program in Computer Science or a related STEM field.
• Must have at least one additional quarter/semester of school remaining following the completion of the internship
• Must have at least 2 years of experience with modeling in Python and at least 2 years of experience with deep learning models.
• Must be fluent in English (verbal and written)

Preferred Qualifications (PQs)

• Experience with one or more general purpose programming languages including: C/C++, Java, MATLAB or Python, ideally languages such as pyTorch, Tensorflow and other deep learning toolkits
• Experience (classroom or work related) in one or more areas of computer science, such as Natural Language Understanding, Neural Networks, Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Algorithmic Foundations of Optimization, Data Science, Privacy, etc.
• Experience with geospatial machine learning, foundation models, agentic AI, or low-resource language models (development and evaluation), applied to practical challenges in agriculture, biodiversity, public health, or disaster response, is a plus.