2026 PhD Software Engineer Intern (Programming Systems Group), United States

Austin Community College; United States; On-site; USD 30,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading educational institution is seeking Ph.D. candidates for a Software Engineer Intern role in the Programming Systems Group. This winter 2026 internship offers an opportunity to tackle ambitious projects and collaborate with specialists. Candidates should have a solid understanding of program analysis techniques, compiler optimizations, and coding skills. This position emphasizes research publication at top conferences and working independently under mentorship, making it ideal for passionate individuals aiming to impact the field.

Qualifications

• Ongoing Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field.
• Solid understanding of modern program analysis techniques.
• Excellent coding and software design skills.

Responsibilities

• Drive ambitious projects from end to end.
• Collaborate closely with product managers and data scientists.
• Publish work at top computer science conferences.

Skills

Compiler optimization

Static analysis

Dynamic analysis

Generative AI

Clean code writing

Effective communication

Education

Ongoing Ph.D. in Computer Science or related field

Job description

2026 PhD Software Engineer Intern (Programming Systems Group), United States

We’re looking for Ph.D. candidates for internships within the Programming Systems Group at Uber for the winter of 2026 (12 weeks). You will be embedded within our engineering team, working closely with specialists, software developers, and product managers. As a Ph.D. intern, you will work on bold and exciting problems under the supervision of an experienced mentor while independently pursuing in-depth research in the problem space.

About the Team

The Programming Systems Group at Uber aims to accelerate performance, reliability, and developer productivity across various computational domains. We focus on research in programming languages spanning Go, Java, Swift, Kotlin, and TypeScript, to name a few. The research includes the right mix of innovation, advanced development, and critical extensions to core infrastructure to address novel problems in computer science and adjoining domains. The team's recent work includes static analysis tools such as NullAway , NilAway, Last Diff Analyzer , and Piranha ; dynamic analysis tools such as CRISP , and GOLF ; optimization tools such as swift protocol specialization , code-size optimization , profile-guided optimization in Go and CI optimization with SubmitQ ; and Generative-AI tools for fixing concurrency bugs and resource leaks in Java . We make our tools open source and publish our research as academic papers at premier conferences and blog posts. We also participate actively in the research community, including attending conferences, organizing workshops, and serving on program committees.

To succeed in this position, you will have a solid understanding of innovative program analysis techniques and experience developing static analyses or compiler optimizations. You should also be passionate about writing clean, efficient, and well-tested code.

What You'll Do

• Drive exciting, ambitious, previously unsolved projects from end to end
• Thrive in ambiguous product requirements
• Iterate fast to explore possible solutions
• Make data-driven decisions with exceptional execution
• Collaborate closely with product managers and data scientists
• Be motivated to own projects and push them forward with independence
• Most importantly, have a passion for making Uber better for our customers
• Publish your work at top computer science conferences

Basic Qualifications

• Ongoing Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field
• Candidates must have at least one semester/quarter of their education left following the internship
• Prior experience with compiler optimization, static or dynamic analysis, and Generative AI
• Solid understanding of modern program analysis techniques
• Excellent coding skills and software design skills
• Actively submitting papers to top conferences and journals

Preferred Qualifications

• Ability to communicate effectively with both technical and business partners
• Experience in simplifying/converting business challenges into technical problems
• Research mentality with a bias towards action to structure a project from idea to experimentation to prototype to implementation
• Experience presenting at industry-recognized academic conferences