Summer PhD Research Intern — Autonomous Driving ML

Waymo LLC; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 97,000 - 138,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Benefits programs

Job summary

Waymo LLC seeks a PhD student to advance AI foundations for autonomous driving. You will design preprocessing for driving scenarios, build postprocessing for safe trajectories, and evaluate language-visual models in simulation.

The role emphasizes cross-disciplinary collaboration and potential publication in top venues. Ideal candidates are enrolled in a PhD program, proficient in JAX/PyTorch, and have 3+ years in deep learning, CV, and generative modeling.

Qualifications

• Enrolled in a PhD program in a technical field such as CS, statistics, applied mathematics or physics.
• Familiar with major ML frameworks (JAX, PyTorch).
• Experience using coding agents for auto-research.
• 3+ years of experience with Deep Learning, Computer Vision and Generative Models (e.g. VLMs/LLMs).

Responsibilities

• Design and implement scenario preprocessors for presenting driving scenarios to VLMs.
• Develop postprocessors translating VLM outputs into feasible, safe trajectories for vehicle control.
• Evaluate VLM driving harnesses in closed-loop autonomous driving simulation and iterate on representations.
• Communicate research motivations and findings to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Conduct cutting-edge research and publish technical reports or papers.

Skills

JAX

PyTorch

Auto-research tooling

Deep Learning

Computer Vision

Generative Models

Education

PhD program in CS/Stats/Math/Physics

Job description

Waymo LLC seeks a PhD student to advance AI foundations for autonomous driving. You will design preprocessing for driving scenarios, build postprocessing for safe trajectories, and evaluate language-visual models in simulation.

The role emphasizes cross-disciplinary collaboration and potential publication in top venues. Ideal candidates are enrolled in a PhD program, proficient in JAX/PyTorch, and have 3+ years in deep learning, CV, and generative modeling.