Internship – Physically Based Rendering, Vulkan & Digital Twins (f/m/x)

ZEISS Group; Oberkochen; Hybrid; EUR 13,000 - 20,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Two-year working student option

Hybrid/remote flexibility

Access to modern graphics hardware

Job summary

ZEISS Corporate Research invites motivated students to contribute to an in-house physically based rendering platform. You will work on realistic rendering, digital twins, and GPU-based visual computing under PhD-level mentorship.

Responsibilities include implementing Vulkan-based rendering features, shader pipelines, and performance benchmarking, while exploring ray tracing and real-time lighting for future ZEISS applications.

Qualifications

• Enrolled in CS/Visual Computing or related field.
• Strong C++ and software engineering fundamentals.
• Solid graphics knowledge: rendering pipelines, shaders, lighting.
• Interest in real-time rendering, PBR, ray tracing, digital twins.

Responsibilities

• Develop and extend GPU-accelerated rendering features using Vulkan.
• Implement physically based rendering (PBR) and material models.
• Design shader pipelines using Slang and modern graphics APIs.
• Investigate advanced rendering techniques like ray tracing and real-time lighting.
• Develop prototypes for visual digital twin applications.
• Run experiments, benchmark performance, and evaluate rendering quality.
• Collaborate with researchers to integrate new tech into projects.
• Present work and contribute to technology evaluations.

Skills

C++ programming

Graphics concepts

Vulkan

Slang

CUDA

English communication

Education

Pursuing Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science

Tools

Git

CUDA toolkit

Job description

Shape the Future of Digital Twin Technology at ZEISS

At ZEISS Corporate Research, we explore breakthrough technologies that shape future generations of ZEISS products. We are looking for motivated students who are passionate about computer graphics, GPU programming, visual computing, and digital twins to contribute to the development of an in-house physically based rendering platform. You will work on realistic rendering and physics-based simulation technologies that enable highly interactive visual digital twins for future ZEISS applications.

Your Role

As part of our research team, you will contribute to the development of state-of-the-art rendering and simulation technologies.

• Developing and extending GPU-accelerated rendering features using Vulkan
• Implementing physically based rendering (PBR) and material models
• Designing and optimizing shader pipelines using Slang and modern graphics APIs
• Investigating advanced rendering techniques such as ray tracing, global illumination, and real-time lighting
• Developing prototypes and demonstrators for visual digital twin applications
• Running experiments, benchmarking performance, and evaluating rendering quality
• Collaborating closely with researchers and engineers to integrate new technologies into ongoing projects
• Presenting your work and contributing to technology evaluations

What We Offer

• Work on cutting-edge rendering and digital twin technologies
• Mentorship by experienced researchers and PhD-level experts
• Opportunity to influence future ZEISS products and technology roadmaps
• Access to modern graphics hardware and research environments
• Possibility to continue as a working student for up to two years and/or write your bachelor or master thesis
• Flexible working arrangements with a mix of remote and on-site work

Your Profile

• Enrolled in Computer Science, Visual Computing, Computer Graphics, Computational Engineering, Physics, or a related field
• Strong programming skills in C++ and software engineering fundamentals
• Solid understanding of computer graphics concepts such as rendering pipelines, shaders, lighting, materials, or GPU programming
• Interest in real-time rendering, physically based rendering, ray tracing, digital twins, simulation, or graphics systems
• Experience with Vulkan, Slang, or CUDA or related technologies is beneficial
• Experience with neural rendering techniques such as Gaussian splatting is beneficial
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in interdisciplinary teams
• Good English communication skills

Nice to Have

• Personal rendering projects
• Graphics-related coursework
• Open-source contributions
• GitHub portfolio or demo projects

Students who have built their own rendering engine, game engine components, GPU applications, shaders, or graphics research prototypes are especially encouraged to apply.