Applied Deep Learning PhD Research Intern, Reinforcement Learning for LLMs - Fall 2026

Nvidia
US, CA, Santa Clara2026-05-06onsite

About the job

We are looking for PhD research interns excited to advance the next generation of large language models through reinforcement learning. Our applied deep learning research team at NVIDIA has helped pioneer projects such as Megatron, MT-NLG, and DLSS. We build state-of-the-art foundation models and develop new methods to improve their reasoning, alignment, reliability, and ability to solve real-world tasks.

Responsibilities

Develop and prototype reinforcement learning algorithms for large language models

Explore methods for improving reasoning, alignment, instruction following, and multi-turn interaction

Design experiments to evaluate model behavior, robustness, hallucination, and task performance

Implement research ideas in Python and PyTorch, and run experiments on large-scale GPU clusters

Qualifications

Minimum

Pursuing a PhD in AI, ML, CS, CE, EE, Math, Physics, or a related field

Strong background in reinforcement learning and natural language processing

Excellent programming skills, especially in Python

Experience with deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch

Comfort with experimental research, debugging models, and working with large-scale training pipelines

Preferred

Publications or open-source contributions in RL, LLMs, alignment, reasoning, or post-training

Experience with RLHF, RLAIF, policy optimization, reward modeling, or agentic LLM systems

Strong intuition for both algorithms and large-scale implementation