Research Intern - Speech Processing

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.

Speech and audio Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is one of the key drivers for advancing natural user interfaces with natural spoken language. The Speech and Audio Group is on a mission to develop the core speech technologies that empower millions of users to achieve more. Our group brings together talent in the areas of signal processing, speech recognition, speech translation, and speech and audio generation to develop and deliver robust, natural, and scalable speech experience across a rich set of scenarios and languages.

We are seeking Research Interns to contribute to pioneering research in speech and audio. This includes areas such as end-to-end speech recognition and translation, speech and audio generation, and multimodal with Large Language Models (LLM). As a Research Intern, you will have the opportunity to conduct both fundamental and applied research in collaboration with our researchers and scientists.

This position offers the opportunity to prototype, demonstrate, and publish your findings within Microsoft’s privileged. Most importantly, you will have the chance to push the boundaries of current technologies, making a significant impact on millions of users.

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.

Required Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in a Doctorate Degree program in speech recognition, speech translation, separation, and enhancement, speaker recognition and diarization, speech and audio generation, audio processing, deep learning, machine learning, AI or a related field.

Other Requirements

• 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. 

Preferred Qualifications

• 1+ year(s) of research experience in speech recognition, speech translation, speech and audio generation, speech LLM, deep learning, machine learning, AI or a related field.
• Experience with open-source tools such as PyTorch, Tensorflow, etc.
• Publication(s) in top-tier conferences or journals in related fields (e.g., ICASSP, Interspeech, ASRU, SLT, IEEE/ACM Transactions on Audio, Speech and Language Processing, Speech Communication, Computer Speech and Language, etc.).
• Demonstrated communication and writing skills.

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.