Research Science PhD Internship Opportunities - Coding Agents in Cambridge

Research Internships at Microsoft provide a dynamic environment for research careers with a network of world-class research labs led by globally-recognized scientists and engineers, who pursue innovation in a range of scientific and technical disciplines to help solve complex challenges in diverse fields, including computing, healthcare, economics, and the environment.

In M365 Research, we are dedicated to pioneering advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Systems, driving the transfer of innovative technologies into our products, establishing Microsoft’s leadership in technical domains and enhancing community engagement. We closely collaborate with multiple research teams and product groups across the globe who bring a multitude of technical expertise in machine learning, cloud systems and software engineering. We communicate our research both internally and externally through peer-reviewed scientific publications, open-source releases, blog posts, patents, and industry conferences.

For this position, you should have a strong software engineering background with experience in AI/ML for code intelligence. Our research focuses on advancing coding agents that can understand real-world codebases and autonomously execute software engineering tasks end-to-end. Topics of interest include building LLM-based coding agents for repository-scale feature implementation and bug fixing, enhancing agents’ ability to plan and use developer tools effectively (e.g., tests, linters, CI workflows), and improving reliability through iterative feedback from code reviews and test results.

Location: Cambridge, UK

Duration: 12 Weeks

Responsibilities:

• Conduct research on coding agents and agentic systems under the guidance of a mentor, aligned with ongoing projects.
• Collaborate with researchers and engineers to design and develop intelligent agent pipelines for software engineering tasks (e.g., code generation, debugging, and automation).
• Apply machine learning and program analysis techniques to real-world problems in software engineering and AI agents.
• Design, implement, and evaluate agent-based systems, including LLM-based pipelines, tool-use agents, and multi-step reasoning workflows.
• Develop prototypes or systems that integrate language models with external tools, APIs, or code execution environments.
• Run experiments, analyze model/system performance, and iterate based on empirical results.
• Present research progress and technical findings, and contribute to technical reports, documentation, or publications.

Qualifications:

Required/Minimum Qualifications:

• Currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, or a related field.
• Must have at least one additional semester or quarter remaining after completion of the internship.
• Experience in machine learning, natural language processing, or agent systems.
• Strong programming skills in Python or similar languages.

Preferred/Additional Qualifications:

• Experience with LLM-based coding systems or agentic tools for software development (e.g., repository understanding, code modification, test generation).
• Ability to collaborate effectively in cross-functional, multi-disciplinary teams across research and product groups.
• Research contributions demonstrated through publications in top venues such as NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, ACL, EMNLP, ICSE, FSE or related conferences.

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances.

If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.