Internship at Microsoft

Posted: 12/10/2025

About the Company/Organization:

Microsoft
Type: Company
Size: 10,000
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/

Every company has a mission. What’s ours? To empower every person and every organization to achieve more. We believe technology can and should be a force for good and that meaningful innovation contributes to a brighter world in the future and today. Our culture doesn’t just encourage curiosity; it embraces it. Each day we make progress together by showing up as our authentic selves. We show up with a learn-it-all mentality. We show up cheering on others, knowing their success doesn’t diminish our own. We show up every day open to learning our own biases, changing our behavior, and inviting in differences. Because impact matters.

Microsoft operates in 190 countries and is made up of approximately 228,000 passionate employees worldwide.

---

Internship Project/Opportunity

Location: Global
Anticipated internship dates: February 2026 – June 2027
Target intern experience level: Graduate Students, Postdocs
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/academic-program/microsoft-research-fellowship/?OCID=MSRFellowship26_%20Social_LI

About the program
The Microsoft Research Fellowship creates opportunities for academic scholars (faculty, PhD students, and postdocs) to collaborate with Microsoft Research on open research challenges that advance scientific understanding, drive innovation, and deliver societal benefit.

In an era of rapid innovation, this fellowship brings together academia and industrial researchers across disciplines to shape the future through open research collaborations. Academic collaboration is foundational to advancing scientific discovery, and today, it’s more critical than ever. Academic institutions contribute deep domain expertise, novel perspectives, and a culture of exploration. Microsoft Research’s global labs offer deep technical expertise, cutting-edge academic inquiry, and real-world application. By working together, we believe we can accelerate innovation, promote responsible development, and address complex challenges that can best be solved through interdisciplinary exploration.

General eligibility
Microsoft is seeking scholars in academia who are pursuing research and instruction in academic venues across a range of disciplines.

More specific eligibility requirements for Students, Postdocs, and Faculty can be found here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/academic-program/microsoft-research-fellowship/

Eligibility guidelines vary by research challenge. Some challenges accept proposals from students, others from faculty, and some from both. Please refer to the “Research Challenges” tab and the eligibility details below to understand the criteria for each challenge.

This program accepts proposals from individuals based in the following regions: Africa, Australia & New Zealand, Canada, Europe, India, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the United States.

Microsoft actively seeks to foster greater levels of diversity in our workforce and in our pipeline of future researchers and collaborators. We are always looking for the best and brightest talent and celebrating individuality. We invite candidates to come as they are and do what they love.

Fellows selected to be a part of the Microsoft Research Fellowship program are subject to disciplinary proceedings for inappropriate behavior, including but not limited to discrimination, harassment (including sexual harassment), or plagiarism will forfeit their funding. If accepted, a standard background screen will be conducted. Though Microsoft is not hiring you for employment, a successful screen is required as a stipulation to transfer funds under this fellowship.

Research objectives and challenges
Research objectives and eligibility requirements vary by challenge. Some challenges accept proposals from PhD students, others from faculty, and some from both. Review the descriptions of each challenge’s research goals and specific eligibility criteria here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/academic-program/microsoft-research-fellowship/research-challenges/

Provisions of the award
The Microsoft Research Fellowship is designed to create meaningful opportunities for collaboration between academic researchers and Microsoft Research. These opportunities will vary by research challenge and may include working sessions, regular check-ins, asynchronous collaboration, workshops, and other formats tailored to the nature of the research.

All funds are distributed as unrestricted gifts as a one-time payment made directly to the institution/university and disbursed according to the institution/ university policies. Direct payments to individuals are not made by the program.

Funding amounts vary by the region a fellows’ organization/institution of employment is located in.

Africa – $17,000 (USD)
Australia & New Zealand – $17,000 (USD)
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Puerto Rico – $17,000 (USD)
Canada – $47,000 (USD)
Europe – $27,000 (USD)
India – $17,000 (USD)
Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan – $17,000 (USD)
United States – $47,000 (USD)
These stipend amounts include travel funding to support in-person collaboration. Fellows may use this funding to visit Microsoft Research principal investigators and collaborators at a Microsoft Research lab or office.

All payments will be distributed in March/April 2026. If selected, Microsoft will work with respective departmental finance liaisons to transfer funds.

*Stipend rates are reviewed annually and benchmarked against comparable fellowship programs in each geography to ensure competitive alignment.

How to apply
Please carefully review and consider the below as it relates to the proposal process for the program.

All proposals should be submitted via the submission portal (below). Proposals will not be accepted by email.

General proposal guidelines
All submissions should be submitted in English by the candidate (self-submission). Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Please do not add additional requests for budget, as these will not be considered under the guidelines of this fellowship.
Proposals submitted to Microsoft will not be returned. Microsoft cannot assume responsibility for the confidentiality of information in submitted applications. Therefore, proposals should not contain information that is confidential, restricted, or sensitive.
Due to the volume of submissions, Microsoft Research cannot provide individual feedback on applications that do not receive fellowship awards.

More specific guidelines for Students, Postdocs, and Faculty here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/academic-program/microsoft-research-fellowship/how-to-apply/

Submit Proposal here: https://webportalapp.com/sp/login/2026_microsoft_research_fellowship_portal

KEY DATES:
-Call for proposals: Tuesday, November 4, 2025
-Proposal submission deadline: Tuesday, December 16, 2025, at 11:59 PM ET (this deadline has been extended)
-Proposal notifications sent: February 2026

Contact: Email