Responsible Tech Research Scientist Intern: 2025

Multiple Locations See All

Yorktown Heights

San Jose

Cambridge

Albany
Research
Internship

Responsible Tech Research Scientist Intern: 2025

Multiple Locations See All

Yorktown Heights

San Jose

Cambridge

Albany
Research
Internship

Introduction
IBM Research Scientists are charting the future of Artificial Intelligence, creating breakthroughs in quantum computing, discovering how blockchain will reshape the enterprise, and much more. Join a team that is dedicated to applying science to some of today’s most complex challenges, whether it’s discovering a new way for doctors to help patients, teaming with environmentalists to clean up our waterways or enabling retailers to personalize customer service.

Your Role and Responsibilities

This is for a 2025 summer internship with the following start dates: May – August or June – September for quarter system schools.

We are seeking candidates currently enrolled in a PhD or MA in the humanities and social sciences to work with a small team of interdisciplinary researchers seeking to advance critical perspectives on responsible AI. Leveraging your preferred methods and approaches, you will contribute to a collaborative project aimed at contextualizing, historicizing and theorizing prevailing discourses around AI “safety”. This will include, for instance, drawing connections between discourses of safety, risk, security, trust, privacy, and transparency, or examining how safety has been mobilized in other settings. It could also entail probing the implications of safety discourses in relation to questions of race, ethnicity, class, gender, empire, etc.
Depending on your disciplinary background, you will be expected to engage in in-depth analyses of documents (e.g. archival and legal documents), white papers, research publications, databases, and/or technical artifacts (among others), and share your insights via verbal presentations and written documentations. You will also have the opportunity to co-author articles resulting from the research and findings.

Required Technical and Professional Expertise

Applicants should be PhD & MA students pursuing graduate studies.
Enrolled in a PhD or MA program in the social sciences or humanities, including but not limited to: history, history of science, media studies, anthropology, sociology, english language and literature, philosophy, economics, political science, and area studies.
Strong interest and previous experience conducting research from a humanities perspective on topics in science and technology; strong preference for researchers informed by a historical, political, or social perspective.
Willingness to work across disciplines and communicate findings to a wide range of audiences, including technologists.

Preferred Technical and Professional Expertise

Familiarity with scholarship in critical traditions such as feminist theory, decolonial/post-colonial theory, historical materialism, contemporary critical theory, etc.
Ability to work independently
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Publications in academic venues or popular media (published, forthcoming, or in preparation)

Want to know what it’s like to be an IBMer?

About Business Unit

IBM Research is the organic growth engine of IBM and an innovation engine for our customers and partners. As part of this mission, IBM Research anticipates and examines ‘What’s Next in Computing’ to ultimately create and integrate the technologies the world relies upon to solve big challenges and unlock new opportunities. We create and pioneer new markets for IBM, our partners and customers as exemplified in our ongoing quest to reach practical and large-scale quantum computing. Across IBM Research, we realize the power and potential to accelerate discovery with our partners and clients by combining the power of high performance computing, AI, and Quantum, all integrated through the hybrid cloud.

Your Life @ IBM

In a world where technology never stands still, we understand that, dedication to our clients success, innovation that matters, and trust and personal responsibility in all our relationships, lives in what we do as IBMers as we strive to be the catalyst that makes the world work better.

Being an IBMer means you’ll be able to learn and develop yourself and your career, you’ll be encouraged to be courageous and experiment everyday, all whilst having continuous trust and support in an environment where everyone can thrive whatever their personal or professional background.

Our IBMers are growth minded, always staying curious, open to feedback and learning new information and skills to constantly transform themselves and our company. They are trusted to provide on-going feedback to help other IBMers grow, as well as collaborate with colleagues keeping in mind a team focused approach to include different perspectives to drive exceptional outcomes for our customers. The courage our IBMers have to make critical decisions everyday is essential to IBM becoming the catalyst for progress, always embracing challenges with resources they have to hand, a can-do attitude and always striving for an outcome focused approach within everything that they do.

Are you ready to be an IBMer?

About IBM

IBM’s greatest invention is the IBMer. We believe that through the application of intelligence, reason and science, we can improve business, society and the human condition, bringing the power of an open hybrid cloud and AI strategy to life for our clients and partners around the world.

Restlessly reinventing since 1911, we are not only one of the largest corporate organizations in the world, we’re also one of the biggest technology and consulting employers, with many of the Fortune 50 companies relying on the IBM Cloud to run their business.

At IBM, we pride ourselves on being an early adopter of artificial intelligence, quantum computing and blockchain. Now it’s time for you to join us on our journey to being a responsible technology innovator and a force for good in the world.

Other Relevant Job Details

Location Statement

Supplemental 1 employees may be eligible for up to 8 paid holidays, minimum of 56 hours paid sick time and the IBM Employee Stock Purchase Plan. IBM offers paid family medical leave and disability benefits to eligible employees where required by applicable law. The compensation range and benefits for this position are based on a full-time schedule for a full calendar year. The salary will vary depending on your job-related skills, experience and location. Pay increment and frequency of pay will be in accordance with employment classification and applicable laws. For part time roles, your compensation and benefits will be adjusted to reflect your hours. Benefits may be pro-rated for those who start working during the calendar year. This position was posted on the date cited in the key job details section and is anticipated to remain posted for 21 days from this date or less if not needed to fill the role. We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable law.

Being You @ IBM

IBM is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, caste, genetics, pregnancy, disability, neurodivergence, age, veteran status, or other characteristics. IBM is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.

Key Job Details

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