36.3712, Internships: Applied Linguistics, Linguistic Theories, Pragmatics: Interdisciplinary research internship with the Sociotechnical Alignment Center (STAC) at Microsoft Research, USA

Tue Dec 2 12:05:03 UTC 2025

LINGUIST List: Vol-36-3712. Tue Dec 02 2025. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 36.3712, Internships: Applied Linguistics, Linguistic Theories, Pragmatics: Interdisciplinary research internship with the Sociotechnical Alignment Center (STAC) at Microsoft Research, USA

Moderator: Steven Moran (linguist at linguistlist.org)
Managing Editor: Valeriia Vyshnevetska
Team: Helen Aristar-Dry, Mara Baccaro, Daniel Swanson
Jobs: jobs at linguistlist.org | Conferences: callconf at linguistlist.org | Pubs: pubs at linguistlist.org

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org

Editor for this issue: Valeriia Vyshnevetska <valeriia at linguistlist.org>

================================================================

Date: 01-Dec-2025
From: Hannah Washington [v-hannahwa at microsoft.com]
Subject: Applied Linguistics, Linguistic Theories, Pragmatics: Interdisciplinary research internship with the Sociotechnical Alignment Center (STAC) at Microsoft Research, USA

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics
                     Linguistic Theories
                     Pragmatics
Voluntary
Internship Location: New York City, USA
Qualifications:
Required Qualifications
- Currently enrolled in a relevant PhD program.
Other Requirements:
Research Interns are expected to be physically located in their
manager’s Microsoft worksite location for the duration of their
internship.
In addition to the qualifications below, you’ll need to submit a
minimum of two reference letters for this position as well as a cover
letter and any relevant work or research samples. 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.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Demonstrated ability to conduct original research.
- Able to collaborate effectively with other researchers and product
development teams.
- Interpersonal skills, cross-group, and cross-culture collaboration.
- Ability to think unconventionally to derive creative and innovative
solutions.

Description:
Overview:
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.
The Sociotechnical Alignment Center (STAC) is a team of researchers,
applied scientists, and linguists in Microsoft Research (MSR) who
represent part of the research pillar of Microsoft’s Responsible AI
efforts. Founded within Microsoft Research in 2022, STAC’s mission is
to guide the sociotechnical alignment of AI systems, with a particular
emphasis on measuring risks, capabilities, performance, and other
properties of these systems. STAC collaborates extensively with
researchers from the Fairness, Accountability, Transparency, and
Ethics in AI (FATE) group and other groups across Microsoft.
STAC is looking to hire several Research Interns in NYC to conduct
research on measuring risks, capabilities, performance, and other
properties of AI systems, with a focus on “generative” or “general
purpose” systems. STAC’s approach to evaluation is grounded in
measurement theory from the social sciences and in statistics. All
STAC Research Internships will involve collaborations and/or
co-mentorship with one or more FATE researchers.
STAC is especially interested in candidates with expertise in
theoretical and methodological approaches that can be applied to help
advance and mature the field of AI system evaluation. Prior experience
with AI system evaluation specifically is preferred. We especially
encourage applications from candidates interested in topics including
but not limited to: measurement theory from the social sciences;
reliability of generative AI systems and generative AI system
evaluation; validity of generative AI system evaluation; automated
methods for constructing conceptual definitions for evaluation;
improving human and automated annotation methods for use in
evaluation, including LLM-as-a-judge; generative AI user simulations
and synthetic data generation; linguistic models of conversational
organization (including conversational norms, turn-taking, politeness,
and other aspects of sociopragmatic competence); and applications of
methodologies from psychometrics and educational testing to the design
and validation of evaluations (including methods such as item response
theory, factor analysis, and other latent variable models).
Applicants should have a demonstrated interest and established
expertise in methods applicable to AI system evaluation, and a desire
to work in a highly interdisciplinary environment. We welcome
applicants with backgrounds in technical fields (e.g., machine
learning, artificial intelligence, natural language processing,
computer vision, statistics) and applicants with backgrounds in
sociotechnical fields (e.g., linguistics, economics, human-computer
interaction, information science, educational testing, psychometrics).
Applicants to the STAC internship may also be interested in applying
for the separate FATE NYC internship. Applicants interested in
multiple internship opportunities should apply to each posting
separately.
Responsibilities:
Research Interns put inquiry and theory into practice. Alongside
fellow doctoral candidates and some of the world’s best researchers,
Research Interns learn, collaborate, and network for life. Research
Interns not only advance their own careers, but they also contribute
to exciting research and development strides. During the 12-week
internship, Research Interns are paired with mentors and expected to
collaborate with other Research 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.
Qualifications:
Required Qualifications:
- Currently enrolled in a relevant PhD program.
Other Requirements:
Research Interns are expected to be physically located in their
manager’s Microsoft worksite location for the duration of their
internship.
In addition to the qualifications below, you’ll need to submit a
minimum of two reference letters for this position as well as a cover
letter and any relevant work or research samples. 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.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Demonstrated ability to conduct original research.
- Able to collaborate effectively with other researchers and product
development teams.
- Interpersonal skills, cross-group, and cross-culture collaboration.
- Ability to think unconventionally to derive creative and innovative
solutions.
Applications (including reference letters) should be submitted by
December 18 for full consideration, but will be accepted until all
positions are filled.
Applicants must submit (1) a cover letter that follows the guidelines
below; (2) their CV; and (3) 1 or 2 writing samples, published or
unpublished, which may be research papers, dissertation chapters, or
other research-related writing. Applicants who do not submit a cover
letter may not be considered.
Your cover letter should be no more than 2 pages long. (Shorter is
fine!) Please address the following points:
- Include your name, email address, and website URL.
- Briefly describe your current research, and how it connects with the
focus of STAC (see Overview for a list of some of the group’s current
research interests).
- What kinds of methodologies have you applied in your research/are
you most familiar with? (E.g., coding, statistics, large scale data
analysis, theoretical/mathematical analysis, user studies,
experimental design, ethnography, etc.)
- We want to learn about the kinds of research that interest you. Are
there particular projects you would like to do during your internship?
Recent (MSR or non-MSR) research or ideas you’ve come across that you
are particularly interested in?  What, to you, makes for a good
project/what are you looking for in a project?
- All researchers in the group review every application. However, if
you want to indicate which MSR NYC applied scientists or researchers
you would be especially interested in working with, you may optionally
do so.
The base pay range for this internship is USD $6,710 - $13,270 per
month. There is a different range applicable to specific work
locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City
metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those
locations is USD $8,760 - $14,360 per month.
Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation.
Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-intern-pay
Estimated internship dates (negotiable): June 2026 - August 2026

Application Deadline: 18-Dec-2025

Web Address for Applications:
https://apply.careers.microsoft.com/careers/job/1970393556628319

Contact Information:
        Hannah Washington
        Email: v-hannahwa at microsoft.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

********************** LINGUIST List Support ***********************
Please consider donating to the Linguist List, a U.S. 501(c)(3) not for profit organization:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=87C2AXTVC4PP8

LINGUIST List is supported by the following publishers:

Bloomsbury Publishing http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/

Cambridge University Press http://www.cambridge.org/linguistics

Cascadilla Press http://www.cascadilla.com/

De Gruyter Brill https://www.degruyterbrill.com/?changeLang=en

Edinburgh University Press http://www.edinburghuniversitypress.com

John Benjamins http://www.benjamins.com/

Language Science Press http://langsci-press.org

Lincom GmbH https://lincom-shop.eu/

MIT Press http://mitpress.mit.edu/

Multilingual Matters http://www.multilingual-matters.com/

Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG http://www.narr.de/

Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics / Landelijke (LOT) http://www.lotpublications.nl/

Peter Lang AG http://www.peterlang.com

----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-36-3712
----------------------------------------------------------