Applied Deep Learning PhD Research Intern, Reinforcement Learning for LLMs - Fall 2026 at NVIDIA Santa Clara, CA

NVIDIA Corporation; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 67,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

NVIDIA Corporation in Santa Clara is seeking PhD research interns to push the next generation of large language models through reinforcement learning. You will design, implement, and evaluate RL-based methods, with a hands-on focus on rapid prototyping at scale.

Work involves developing algorithms for LLM reasoning, alignment, and multi-turn interaction, with experiments on large GPU clusters using Python and PyTorch. Publications or open-source contributions are encouraged.

Qualifications

• Pursuing a PhD in AI, ML, CS, CE, EE, Math, Physics, or a related field.
• Strong background in reinforcement learning and natural language processing.
• Excellent programming skills, especially in Python.
• Experience with deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch.
• Comfort with experimental research and large-scale training pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Develop and prototype reinforcement learning algorithms for large language models.
• Explore methods to improve reasoning, alignment, instruction following, and multi-turn interaction.
• Design experiments to evaluate model behavior, robustness, and task performance.
• Implement research ideas in Python and PyTorch, and run experiments on large-scale GPU clusters.

Skills

Python

Reinforcement learning

Natural language processing

PyTorch

Experimentation

Research pipelines

Education

PhD in AI/ML/CS/CE/EE/Math/Physics

Tools

PyTorch

Git

Job description

We are looking for PhD research interns excited to advance the next generation of large language models through reinforcement learning. Our applied deep learning research team at NVIDIA has helped pioneer projects such as Megatron, MT-NLG, and DLSS. We build state-of-the art foundation models and develop new methods to improve their reasoning, alignment, reliability, and ability to solve real-world tasks. This internship will focus on algorithmic research at the intersection of reinforcement learning and large language models. You will design, implement, and evaluate new RL-based methods for improving LLM behavior, with a strong emphasis on hands-on experimentation and rapid prototyping at scale.

What you will be doing:

• Develop and prototype reinforcement learning algorithms for large language models
• Explore methods for improving reasoning, alignment, instruction following, and multi-turn interaction
• Design experiments to evaluate model behavior, robustness, hallucination, and task performance
• Implement research ideas in Python and PyTorch, and run experiments on large-scale GPU clusters

What we need to see:

• Pursuing a PhD in AI, ML, CS, CE, EE, Math, Physics, or a related field
• Strong background in reinforcement learning and natural language processing
• Excellent programming skills, especially in Python
• Experience with deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch
• Comfort with experimental research, debugging models, and working with large-scale training pipelines

Ways to stand out from the crowd:

• Publications or open-source contributions in RL, LLMs, alignment, reasoning, or post-training
• Experience with RLHF, RLAIF, policy optimization, reward modeling, or agentic LLM systems
• Strong intuition for both algorithms and large-scale implementation

If you are excited