NLP Research Intern

Tencent Holdings Ltd; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

LightSpeed Studios, backed by Tencent, is seeking a PhD candidate in NLP/ML to join a global team and advance research across games and AI. You will drive innovative projects, build benchmarks, and train LLMs for practical tasks in gaming contexts.

Ideal candidates have publications in top NLP/ML venues, strong Python with PyTorch expertise, and interest in LLMs and AI agents for gaming.

Qualifications

• PhD in NLP, ML or related area, or recently submitted thesis.
• At least one publication in a top NLP/ML conference or journal.
• Hands-on experience with Python and deep learning libraries (PyTorch, Hugging Face, Transformers).
• Experience in supervised fine-tuning of LLMs or LLM-based AI applications.

Responsibilities

• Drive and contribute to cutting-edge research projects in NLP/ML.
• Develop benchmarks and baselines using publicly available datasets.
• Train large language models (LLMs) on practical tasks.
• Publish research findings at leading NLP/ML/AI conferences and top journals.

Skills

Python

NLP

Machine Learning

Education

PhD in NLP or ML

Master's with PhD offer in relevant field

Tools

PyTorch

Hugging Face

Transformers

Job description

Business Unit

LIGHTSPEED STUDIOS is made up of passionate players who advance the art & science of game development through great stories, great gameplay, and advanced technology. We are focused on bringing next generation experiences to gamers who want to enjoy them anywhere, anytime, across multiple genres and devices.

Business Unit

LIGHTSPEED STUDIOS is made up of passionate players who advance the art & science of game development through great stories, great gameplay, and advanced technology. We are focused on bringing next generation experiences to gamers who want to enjoy them anywhere, anytime, across multiple genres and devices.

About The Hiring Team

Lightspeed Tech Center is a R&D department under Lightspeed Studios which develop PUBG Mobile and other high-quality games. Our Tech Center leads the research, exploration, and discovery of innovative technologies and provides technical services for all games during all phases of life cycle, including engine, audio, QA, AI, next generation game, technical cooperation, etc.

What The Role Entails

LightSpeed Studios is one of the world’s most innovative and successful game developers. With team across China, United States, Singapore, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, and United Arab Emirates. We are expanding to more countries.

Founded in 2008, LightSpeed Studios has created over 50 games across multiple platforms and genres for over 4 billion registered users. It is the co-developer of worldwide hits PUBG MOBILE, Apex Legends Mobile, and League of Legends: Wild Rift (Chinese Version).

• Drive and contribute to cutting-edge research projects in NLP/ML.
• Develop benchmarks and baselines using publicly available datasets.
• Train large language models (LLMs) on innovative, practical tasks.
• Publish research findings at leading NLP/ML/AI conferences and in top journals.

Who We Look For

• Currently in the PhD degree in NLP, Machine Learning, or a related area, or recently submitted the thesis; available at least three days per week (with the supervisor and university approval). Candidates who have completed a Master's degree and have received a PhD offer in a relevant field will also be considered.
• At least one publication in a top-tier NLP/ML conference or journal (e.g., ACL, NAACL, EMNLP, EACL, NeurIPS, ICLR, ICML).
• Hands-on experience with Python and deep learning libraries, especially PyTorch, Hugging Face, and Transformers.
• Experience in one or more of the following areas: supervised fine-tuning of LLMs, LLM self-learning, LLM efficiency, LLM-based AI agents, or LLM applications in gaming, reasoning, or mathematical tasks.

Equal Employment Opportunity at Tencent

As an equal opportunity employer, we firmly believe that diverse voices fuel our innovation and allow us to better serve our users and the community. We foster an environment where every employee of Tencent feels supported and inspired to achieve individual and common goals.