[Remote] PhD Systems & AI/ML Research Intern (Summer 2026)

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Dropbox powers collaboration and cloud infrastructure for over 700 million registered users worldwide. As a PhD Systems & AI/ML Research Intern, you’ll work on meaningful infrastructure problems at the intersection of distributed systems, backend services, and AI/ML workloads, owning a project aligned with your research that results in a working prototype for internal adoption and potential external publication.

Responsibilities

• Execute a defined engineering/research project aligned with your research
• Implement a prototype that addresses a concrete infrastructure or AI-systems challenge
• Build and run benchmarks using realistic workloads to measure performance, reliability, or security improvements
• Document the design and implementation, including assumptions, architecture, tradeoffs, and evaluation results
• Deliver a final artifact that includes a working prototype, reproducible results, technical write-up, and internal presentation
• Collaborate with mentors to refine the approach, validate results, and, if appropriate, prepare findings for internal adoption or external publication

Skills

• PhD candidate in Computer Science or a related field graduating between Winter 2026 and Spring 2028
• Proven experience in systems/infrastructure and/or AI/ML through research publications, significant projects, or internships where you built or tested advanced solutions
• Strong coding skills (e.g., Python, Rust, Go, C++) plus an ability to quickly prototype and iterate on cutting-edge ideas
• Curiosity and drive to explore novel systems methodologies and translate them into practical applications that solve practical needs
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, especially in interdisciplinary teams
• Prior systems publications, open-source contributions, or experience operating large-scale infrastructure
• Interest in translating research insights into product impact for real-world users
• Familiarity and passion for swiftly moving from idea to experiment, comfortable with ambiguous or evolving project goals

Company Overview

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