PhD Research Intern, Networking - 2027

Location: US, CA, Santa Clara

NVIDIA Research is seeking extraordinary networking innovators to join our NVResearch team. As a research intern on this team, you will contribute to the development of future high-performance networking and computing systems. We are seeking a balanced background of research excellence in building systems and a deep understanding and broad perspective across the fields of computer architecture and communication systems for distributed computation. NVIDIA has pioneered programmable GPUs and the CUDA language, and this visionary Research team will take those technologies to the next level with its creative ideas and new inventions. This position offers you the opportunity to have a real impact while working with some of the most creative and forward-thinking people in the world who are here at this dynamic, technology-focused company.

What you'll be doing

Develop algorithms and design hardware and software, extending the state of the art in computing, networking, and other technology areas surrounding NVIDIA's business.

Invent new techniques, technologies, methodologies, processes, and devices, to enable new products or types of products. Deliverable results include prototypes, patents, and publications.

Contribute to research that informs NVIDIA's technology direction 5-10 years out. Work focuses on long-horizon problems rather than products currently shipping or in development, except as to how they can be extended and improved.

Projects can include but are not limited to: optimizing communication stacks for AI training and inference, designing network protocols and congestion control, co-designing AI systems across software and hardware, developing circuits and microarchitecture for network controllers and switches, and architecting networks built on optical switching and silicon photonics.

What we need to see

Pursuing a PhD degree in CS, CE, EE, Physics, Math, or equivalent program.

Relevant industry or university research experience (hardware, software, networking).

Background in networking architectures, topologies, routing, and system design.

Publications at top-tier conferences (ISCA, HPCA, NSDI, SIGCOMM, etc.), or research clearly on track toward them.

Hands-on experience with simulation of networks and high-performance computing systems.

Familiarity with inference and training systems for AI models and associated communication patterns.

Excellent programming skills in a rapid prototyping environment such as Python; C++ and parallel programming.

Experience building or using AI agents to accelerate research — automating experiments, analyzing results, or generating and reviewing code.

Widely considered to be one of the technology world’s most desirable employers, NVIDIA is an industry leader with groundbreaking developments in High-Performance Computing, Artificial Intelligence and Visualization. The GPU, our invention, serves as the visual cortex of modern computers and is at the heart of our products and services. Our work opens up new universes to explore, enables amazing creativity and discovery and powers what were once science fiction inventions from artificial intelligence to autonomous cars. NVIDIA is looking for great research talent to help us accelerate the next wave of computing!

Our internship hourly rates are a standard pay based on the position, your location, year in school, degree, and experience. The hourly rate for our interns is 38 USD - 94 USD.

You will also be eligible for Intern benefits. ​

Applications for this job will be accepted at least until September 25, 2026.

This posting is for an existing vacancy.

NVIDIA uses AI tools in its recruiting processes.

NVIDIA is committed to fostering an inclusive work environment and proud to be an equal opportunity employer. As we highly value diversity in our current and future employees, we do not discriminate (including in our hiring and promotion practices) on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any other characteristic protected by law.