Research Intern - Training-Time Provenance (Data Dignity)

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. Training-time provenance is a research effort on estimating the influence of specific training data on outputs of large language models (LLMs). Current neural network architectures are opaque in terms of providing sources for their generations, and there are at least two good reasons to change this: We are attempting to demonstrate that LLMs can be trained in such a way that influence of specific training data on generated outputs can be efficiently and usefully estimated. You can read more about “Data dignity” in the article: There is no A.I. (The New Yorker).

Requirements

• Currently enrolled in a PhD program in Computer Science or a related STEM field. Exceptional candidates enrolled in a master’s program might also be considered.
• At have at least 2 years of research experience, including peer-reviewed publications, researching a topic closely related to the above description, such as natural language processing, deep learning, generative models, approximation methods, etc.
• 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.
• Demonstrated ability to develop original research agendas.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with other researchers and product development teams.
• Experience in training large AI models.
• Experience in approximation methods for deep learning systems.
• Proficient interpersonal skills, cross-group, and cross-culture collaboration.
• Ability to think unconventionally to derive creative and innovative solutions.

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.
• For this Research Internship (summer 2025), we are seeking PhD students with a passion for fundamental Deep Learning research, particularly those with experience in training LLMs and other large AI models. The Research Intern's responsibilities will include (1) training small language models with novel schemes preserving provenance of data, (2) experimenting with these models to test their performance and reliability.

Benefits

• Industry leading healthcare
• Educational resources
• Discounts on products and services
• Savings and investments
• Maternity and paternity leave
• Generous time away
• Giving programs
• Opportunities to network and connect