All Things Urban

At Microsoft, our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Our mission is grounded in both the world in which we live and the future we strive to create. Today, we live in a mobile-first, cloud-first world, and the transformation we are driving across our businesses is designed to enable Microsoft and our customers to thrive in this world. We do business in 170 countries and are made up of 114,000 passionate employees dedicated to fulfilling our mission of helping you and your organization achieve more.

Researchers in the Urban Innovation Group study and build technology to help shape the future of urban environments. Expertise in design, hardware and software prototyping and deployment, and data analytics, is combined to target three application areas: climate change and related environmental effects on society; productivity and the economic health of cities; social equity and the health of people and their communities. With more than 2 billion additional urban residents projected by 2050, humanity is rapidly becoming increasingly densely populated. Simultaneously, through the internet, mobile devices, and sensors and wearables, data and technology play an increasingly important and complex role in nearly every aspect of modern urban life. With backgrounds in engineering, computer science, ethnography, social sciences, biology, chemistry, and design, researchers in the Urban Innovation Group thus bring a multidisciplinary approach to leverage these trends to understand sociotechnical systems in urban environments and help develop the future of technology in the service of society.

Interns put inquiry and theory into practice. Alongside fellow doctoral candidates and some of the world’s best researchers, interns learn, collaborate, and network for life. Interns not only advance their own careers, but they also contribute to exciting research and development strides. During the 12-week internship, students are paired with mentors and expected to collaborate with other interns and researchers, present findings, and contribute to the vibrant life of the community. Research internships are available in all areas of research, and are offered year-round, though they typically begin in the summer. Interns will collaborate with one or more mentors on a full life cycle research project, from setting project direction to research publication. Thus, interns will be responsible for participating in background research, some combination of project development, testing, deployment, and/or analysis, and paper writing.

In addition to the qualifications below, you’ll need submit a minimum of two reference letters for this position. After you submit your application, a request for letters may be sent to your list of references on your behalf. Note that reference letters cannot be requested until after you have submitted your application, and furthermore, that they might not be automatically requested for all candidates. You may wish to alert your letter writers in advance, so they will be ready to submit your letter. Required Qualifications: - Must be accepted into or currently enrolled in a PhD program in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or a related STEM field. - Must have experience working on at least one project related to sensing and/or communication. Preferred Qualifications: - Experience in hands-on prototyping - Demonstrated ability to develop original research agendas. - Must be able to collaborate effectively with other researchers. - Excellent interpersonal skills, cross-group, and cross-culture collaboration. - Ability to think unconventionally to derive creative and innovative solutions. - Demonstrated ability to perform independent explorative research.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work: - Industry leading healthcare - Giving programs - Opportunities to network and connect - Discounts on products and services

This job is available for international candidates.