NVIDIA
Applied Deep Learning PhD Research Intern, Reinforcement Learning for LLMs - Fall 2026
US, CA, Santa Clara · Internship · Posted Oct 12, 2026
- Education
- Pursuing a PhD in AI, ML, CS, CE, EE, Math, Physics, or a related field.
About the job
Conduct algorithmic research and large-scale experiments to develop reinforcement learning methods that improve large language model behavior.
What you'll do
- Develop and prototype reinforcement learning algorithms for LLMs.
- Explore methods to improve reasoning, alignment, instruction following, and multi-turn interaction.
- Evaluate model behavior, robustness, hallucination, and task performance using experiments on GPU clusters.
What they ask for
- 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.
Nice to have
- 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.
Pay
38 USD - 94 USD per hour; hourly rate
Tools
Python, PyTorch
AI focus
Develop reinforcement learning methods to improve LLM reasoning, alignment, reliability, instruction following, and task performance.
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative