Applied Scientist Internships
Applied scientist internships give university students, recent graduates, and early-career switchers hands-on project experience, mentorship from working applied scientists, and, at many employers, a path toward a full-time offer. Openings are concentrated in Technology & Software, Retail, and E-Commerce & Online Marketplaces, with TikTok, Amazon, and Roblox among the employers posting roles now.
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Showing 5 of 17+ Applied Scientist Internships
Applied Scientist Intern (Recommendation AI Lab) - 2026 Start (PhD)
Location
:
San Jose
Employment Type
:
Intern
Job Code
:
A125123
Responsibilities
Global Monetization Product and Technology team are building the next-generation monetization platforms to help millions of customers grow their businesses, utilizing our products like TikTok. Our team develops a wide variety of advertisements for numerous uses including feeds, live streaming, branding, measurement, targeting, search, vertical solutions, creative solutions, and business integrity.
Topic Content: This topic dives deep into TikTok's core global advertising scenarios, driving innovation and implementation of the cutting-edge generative technologies in search, recommendation, and advertising. By deeply integrating foundation models with the advertising business, we address key technical challenges in Large Recommender Models and Large Language Models (LLMs) to build a next-generation intelligent advertising engine with autonomous decision-making capabilities.
Our research covers cutting-edge directions, including Large Recommender Model scaling laws, end-to-end unified modeling, generative full-link technologies (retrieval, ranking, AIGC material generation, bidding), intelligent advertising placement agents, ultra-long sequence modeling, and causal inference. We tackle extreme challenges of trillion-level features and millisecond responses, advancing advertising recommendation toward the foundation model paradigm to achieve dual improvements in monetization efficiency and user experience.
We are looking for talented individuals to join us for an internship in 2026. PhD Internships at our Company aim to provide students with the opportunity to actively contribute to our products and research, and to the organization's future plans and emerging technologies.
PhD internships at Our Company provides students with the opportunity to actively contribute to our products and research, and to the organization's future plans and emerging technologies. Our dynamic internship experience blends hands-on learning, enriching community-building and development events, and collaboration with industry experts.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis - we encourage you to apply early. Please state your availability clearly in your resume (Start date, End date).
Responsibilities:
- Explore scaling laws for foundation models in recommendation and advertising, and build a foundation model based on unified multimodal semantic modeling.
- Build an intelligent ad placement system optimized for users' Long-Term Value (LTV) and long-term ROAS, achieving an optimal balance between commercial value and user experience.
- Optimize the full-process training and online inference framework for foundation models, balance computing power costs and real-time response performance, and resolve the performance-latency trade-off in real-world deployment.
Minimum Qualification(s):
- Currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
- Modeling experience in one or more of the areas: Ads, Search engine, Recommender System, NLP/CV.
- Have a solid foundation in algorithms related to LLMs, including but not limited to comprehensive learning and practical experience in areas such as single-modal LLM application and deployment.
- Priority will be given to candidates with research results and extensive practical relevant fields, such as outstanding performance in natural language processing, computer vision, data modeling, or algorithm optimization, etc.
- Excellent programming abilities with a strong command of data structures and fundamental algorithms. For traditional coding roles, proficiency in C/C++ is required; for intelligent coding roles, proficiency in Python is required.
- Strong publications record in top conferences (e.g., ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML, ACL, EMNLP, NACCL, CVPR, ICCV, and ECCV) is a plus.
【For Pay Transparency】Compensation Description (Hourly) - Campus Intern
The hourly rate range for this position in the selected city is $60- $60.
Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location. Interns have day one access to health insurance, life insurance, wellbeing benefits and more. Interns also receive 10 paid holidays per year and paid sick time (56 hours if hired in first half of year, 40 if hired in second half of year). Interns who are not working 100% remote may also be eligible for housing allowance.
The Company reserves the right to modify or change these benefits programs at any time, with or without notice.
For Los Angeles County (unincorporated) Candidates:
Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Our company believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship on the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment:
1. Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;
2. Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and
3. Exercising sound judgment.
About TikTok
TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok's global headquarters are in Los Angeles and Singapore, and we also have offices in New York City, London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo.
Why Join Us
Inspiring creativity is at the core of TikTok's mission. Our innovative product is built to help people authentically express themselves, discover and connect – and our global, diverse teams make that possible. Together, we create value for our communities, inspire creativity and bring joy - a mission we work towards every day.
We strive to do great things with great people. We lead with curiosity, humility, and a desire to make impact in a rapidly growing tech company. Every challenge is an opportunity to learn and innovate as one team. We're resilient and embrace challenges as they come. By constantly iterating and fostering an "Always Day 1" mindset, we achieve meaningful breakthroughs for ourselves, our company, and our users. When we create and grow together, the possibilities are limitless. Join us.
Diversity & Inclusion
TikTok is committed to creating an inclusive space where employees are valued for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives. Our platform connects people from across the globe and so does our workplace. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. To achieve that goal, we are committed to celebrating our diverse voices and to creating an environment that reflects the many communities we reach. We are passionate about this and hope you are too.
TikTok Accommodation
TikTok is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our recruitment processes for candidates with disabilities, pregnancy, sincerely held religious beliefs or other reasons protected by applicable laws. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation, please reach out to us at
https://tinyurl.com/RA-request
Applied Scientist Intern (Recommendation AI Lab) - 2026 Start (PhD)
Location
:
San Jose
Employment Type
:
Intern
Job Code
:
A125123
Responsibilities
Global Monetization Product and Technology team are building the next-generation monetization platforms to help millions of customers grow their businesses, utilizing our products like TikTok. Our team develops a wide variety of advertisements for numerous uses including feeds, live streaming, branding, measurement, targeting, search, vertical solutions, creative solutions, and business integrity.
Topic Content: This topic dives deep into TikTok's core global advertising scenarios, driving innovation and implementation of the cutting-edge generative technologies in search, recommendation, and advertising. By deeply integrating foundation models with the advertising business, we address key technical challenges in Large Recommender Models and Large Language Models (LLMs) to build a next-generation intelligent advertising engine with autonomous decision-making capabilities.
Our research covers cutting-edge directions, including Large Recommender Model scaling laws, end-to-end unified modeling, generative full-link technologies (retrieval, ranking, AIGC material generation, bidding), intelligent advertising placement agents, ultra-long sequence modeling, and causal inference. We tackle extreme challenges of trillion-level features and millisecond responses, advancing advertising recommendation toward the foundation model paradigm to achieve dual improvements in monetization efficiency and user experience.
We are looking for talented individuals to join us for an internship in 2026. PhD Internships at our Company aim to provide students with the opportunity to actively contribute to our products and research, and to the organization's future plans and emerging technologies.
PhD internships at Our Company provides students with the opportunity to actively contribute to our products and research, and to the organization's future plans and emerging technologies. Our dynamic internship experience blends hands-on learning, enriching community-building and development events, and collaboration with industry experts.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis - we encourage you to apply early. Please state your availability clearly in your resume (Start date, End date).
Responsibilities:
- Explore scaling laws for foundation models in recommendation and advertising, and build a foundation model based on unified multimodal semantic modeling.
- Build an intelligent ad placement system optimized for users' Long-Term Value (LTV) and long-term ROAS, achieving an optimal balance between commercial value and user experience.
- Optimize the full-process training and online inference framework for foundation models, balance computing power costs and real-time response performance, and resolve the performance-latency trade-off in real-world deployment.
Minimum Qualification(s):
- Currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
- Modeling experience in one or more of the areas: Ads, Search engine, Recommender System, NLP/CV.
- Have a solid foundation in algorithms related to LLMs, including but not limited to comprehensive learning and practical experience in areas such as single-modal LLM application and deployment.
- Priority will be given to candidates with research results and extensive practical relevant fields, such as outstanding performance in natural language processing, computer vision, data modeling, or algorithm optimization, etc.
- Excellent programming abilities with a strong command of data structures and fundamental algorithms. For traditional coding roles, proficiency in C/C++ is required; for intelligent coding roles, proficiency in Python is required.
- Strong publications record in top conferences (e.g., ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML, ACL, EMNLP, NACCL, CVPR, ICCV, and ECCV) is a plus.
【For Pay Transparency】Compensation Description (Hourly) - Campus Intern
The hourly rate range for this position in the selected city is $60- $60.
Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location. Interns have day one access to health insurance, life insurance, wellbeing benefits and more. Interns also receive 10 paid holidays per year and paid sick time (56 hours if hired in first half of year, 40 if hired in second half of year). Interns who are not working 100% remote may also be eligible for housing allowance.
The Company reserves the right to modify or change these benefits programs at any time, with or without notice.
For Los Angeles County (unincorporated) Candidates:
Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Our company believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship on the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment:
1. Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;
2. Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and
3. Exercising sound judgment.
About TikTok
TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok's global headquarters are in Los Angeles and Singapore, and we also have offices in New York City, London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo.
Why Join Us
Inspiring creativity is at the core of TikTok's mission. Our innovative product is built to help people authentically express themselves, discover and connect – and our global, diverse teams make that possible. Together, we create value for our communities, inspire creativity and bring joy - a mission we work towards every day.
We strive to do great things with great people. We lead with curiosity, humility, and a desire to make impact in a rapidly growing tech company. Every challenge is an opportunity to learn and innovate as one team. We're resilient and embrace challenges as they come. By constantly iterating and fostering an "Always Day 1" mindset, we achieve meaningful breakthroughs for ourselves, our company, and our users. When we create and grow together, the possibilities are limitless. Join us.
Diversity & Inclusion
TikTok is committed to creating an inclusive space where employees are valued for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives. Our platform connects people from across the globe and so does our workplace. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. To achieve that goal, we are committed to celebrating our diverse voices and to creating an environment that reflects the many communities we reach. We are passionate about this and hope you are too.
TikTok Accommodation
TikTok is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our recruitment processes for candidates with disabilities, pregnancy, sincerely held religious beliefs or other reasons protected by applicable laws. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation, please reach out to us at
https://tinyurl.com/RA-request
Applied Scientist Internship Market
Who's Hiring
- TikTok11
- Amazon4
- Roblox2
Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software13
- Retail3
- E-Commerce & Online Marketplaces3
- Gaming & Esports1
Tips for Your Applied Scientist Internship Search
Apply before the fall recruiting window closes
Large employers recruit summer applied scientist interns the preceding fall, with many structured cohorts filling before winter break. Smaller companies and co-op programs post closer to start dates, so openings appear year-round. Starting your search in August or September for summer roles keeps you ahead of the majority of applicants.
Build a project portfolio that replaces work history
Applied scientist intern screens focus on what you can do, not where you have worked. Document two or three end-to-end research or modeling projects with clear problem statements, methods, results, and linked code repositories or write-ups. Reviewers need something concrete to assess, and a portfolio gives them that before you reach the interview stage.
Work your campus network alongside direct applications
Campus career fairs surface structured internship programs tied to your university, and professors or career center staff often know which employers recruit from your school before roles post publicly. Pair that intelligence with direct applications to companies running smaller applied scientist cohorts, so you reach openings that never appear at on-campus events.
Practice your technical screen out loud before you apply
Applied scientist intern screens typically include a coding round on data structures and algorithms, plus a component testing machine learning or statistical reasoning. Practice by solving problems out loud and explaining your reasoning step by step, since interviewers weigh how you think through a problem as much as whether you reach the correct final answer.
Target structured applied scientist programs at larger companies
Many large tech and research organizations run cohort-based applied scientist or research scientist internship programs built to train candidates new to industry. These programs recruit early and fill fast. Identify the ones that align with your research area and graduate program, then apply in the first application wave rather than waiting for later postings.
Set your work-type filter before you start
On-site roles are 94% of the applied scientist internships listed here. Decide what you can realistically commit to before you begin searching, then filter by location and work type on Migrate Mate so you spend your time on roles you can actually take rather than sorting through listings that don't fit your situation.
Applied Scientist Internships: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get an applied scientist internship?
Lead with coursework and personal projects rather than work history, since hiring teams expect limited experience at the intern level. For applied scientist candidates, a linked portfolio of documented research projects or model experiments gives recruiters something concrete to assess. Combine direct applications with campus career fairs, where recruiters often move faster for students they meet in person.
Can an applied scientist internship turn into a full-time job?
Many employers extend return offers to strong interns, but conversion is never guaranteed. For applied scientist interns, what actually drives it is the quality of your project contributions, whether the team has open headcount at offer time, and how early in the internship you clarify return-offer timing with your manager. Perform well on real work and ask about the process early, without counting on a specific outcome.
When should I apply for applied scientist internships?
Earlier than most expect. Large tech and research employers recruit summer applied scientist interns the preceding fall, often opening applications in August or September. Smaller companies and co-op programs post closer to start dates, so openings appear year-round. Checking listings regularly and applying as soon as a role opens gives you the best chance at structured cohorts that fill quickly.
Are applied scientist internships paid?
Most professional applied scientist internships in the U.S. are paid. Compensation varies by company size, industry, and location, and listings show it where the employer discloses it. Stipends, housing allowances, and relocation support also differ across employers, so read each listing carefully for the full picture.
What should an applied scientist internship resume include?
Lead with projects, not work history. Include two or three complete, documented projects that name the tools and methods used, with links to code repositories, published analyses, or research write-ups so reviewers can assess your work directly. Add relevant coursework, any research experience or publications, and keep the whole resume to one page.
Are there remote applied scientist internships?
Yes. Remote and hybrid roles make up 6% of the applied scientist internship listings here, with the rest on-site. Remote cohorts fill fast, so apply early once you decide what works for your situation and filter by work type to see them without sorting through roles you cannot take.
What is a research scientist internship program at a large tech company?
Several large tech and research organizations run structured applied scientist or research scientist internship programs that recruit specifically from graduate programs in machine learning, statistics, and related fields. These programs are competitive, recruit early in the academic year, and are designed for candidates new to industry research. Identify which programs align with your research area and apply in the first wave.
Can international students get applied scientist internships?
Yes. F-1 students can intern through CPT while enrolled or through OPT work authorization after finishing a degree, and the employer does not have to file anything for either, so many companies are open to international interns. Confirm your eligibility and timing with your university's international student office before accepting an offer.
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