Mercor
Research Intern
San Francisco · On-site · Internship · Posted Oct 5, 2026
- Education
- Currently pursuing a master’s or PhD in computer science, machine learning, statistics, mathematics, or another relevant field.
About the job
Conduct empirical research on post-training, reinforcement learning with verifiable rewards, data generation, and evaluation to improve large language models and agentic systems.
What you'll do
- Develop research questions and run controlled experiments on datasets, rewards, and training methods.
- Create evaluation datasets, benchmarks, scoring methods, and research tools; analyze model failures and experimental results.
- Communicate findings and collaborate on research publications, benchmark releases, and AI systems.
What they ask for
- Currently pursuing a master’s or PhD in a relevant field.
- Demonstrated ability to formulate research questions, design experiments, and draw sound conclusions from empirical results.
- Experience in at least one area: language-model training, fine-tuning, or evaluation; agentic AI systems or RL environments; or benchmark, evaluation, or data-quality development.
- At least one publication or open-source project; strong programming skills, particularly in Python.
Nice to have
- Previous research in language models, reinforcement learning, model evaluation, or post-training.
- Familiarity with RLVR techniques, reward modeling, or agentic AI systems.
Pay
$80 per hour (base salary)
Tools
Python, GRPO, DAPO
AI focus
Research on post-training, RLVR, data generation, and model evaluation, including reward shaping, language-model capabilities, tool use, agentic behavior, and real-world reasoning.
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