2019 AI Residency Guide

There was a time when working with computers was laughed off as hopelessly nerdy. But Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have changed all that. These days leading figures in the field — such as “Godfather of AI” Geoffrey Hinton, the man behind Google AI Jeff Dean, and tech innovator Andrew Ng — have hundreds of thousands of followers on social media and fill auditoriums at sold-out AI conferences.

The promise of AI has been embraced by young people around the world, creating demand for AI-related courses at universities and in online education. Startups and established tech companies alike are constantly on the lookout for promising AI talent. Residency programs are a natural component of this new ecosystem, and provide an immersive and cost-effective way for AI hopefuls to break into the field.

Synced surveyed a number of 2019 AI residency programs that may be of interest to readers.

OpenAI 2019 Winter Scholars

• Deadline: 11/16/2018
• Duration: 3 months full-time; January 7, 2019 -March 29, 2019
• Location: This is a remote program. OpenAI can offer candidates in the Bay Area a desk at their office.
• Requirements:
• Applicant is “a member of an underrepresented group in science and engineering.”
• Applicant should have US work authorization and be located in the United States for the duration of the program; OpenAI gives preference to applicants who can be physically present during the program.
• Applicants must understand these reference articles on Calculus and Linear Algebra.
• Comfortable programming in Python (other languages are helpful, but Python is used in the program).

Offerings:

• US$7.5k/mo stipend for 3 months
• US$25,000 worth of credits from Amazon Web Services.
• A guaranteed interview with OpenAI for full-time work after completion of the Scholars program.
• Access to a group Slack with the scholars and mentors. Possible desk at Open AI office (which past Scholars have found very valuable).
• A mentor to work with 1:1 via video call each week, who can answer questions via chat/email, and advise on project design and execution.

NVIDIA AI Research Residency

• Deadline: 3 pm Pacific Time — 12/07/2018
• Duration: 12 months full-time; July 2019 — June 2020
• Location: NVIDIA HQ in Santa Clara, US
• Requirements:
• Demonstrated research experience in mathematics, physics, signal processing, statistics, neuroscience, or computer science.
• Track record of research excellence with a strong publication record.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Coding experience in a programming language like Python, MATLAB, or C/C++.
• Familiarity with a deep learning framework, such as PyTorch or TensorFlow is a plus.
• Some research experience in machine learning is a plus.

Offerings:

• Candidates are paid during the program.
• The program is intended for PhDs in fields related to AI so applicants can gain and develop expertise in machine learning research. Applicants cannot be enrolled as a student at a university while doing the program.
• NVIDIA will pair the candidate with an experienced researcher to work on a joint research problem that is of mutual interest.
• Publication of findings at venues such as NIPs, ICLR, ICML, and CVPR.

Google AI Residency Program

• Deadline: 01/28/2019
• Duration: 12 months; The Google AI Residency Program will have 3 start dates over the course of 5 months, from June to October 2019. Exact dates are yet to be determined.
• Locations:
• Seattle, WA, United States; Mountain View, CA, United States; Cambridge, MA, United States; New York, NY, United States;
• Montréal, QC, Canada; Toronto, ON, Canada;
• Accra, Ghana; Zürich, Switzerland; Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.

Requirements:

• BS degree or equivalent practical experience in a STEM field such as computer science, mathematics, or statistics.
• Completed coursework in statistics, algorithms, calculus, linear algebra, or probability (or their equivalent).
• Experience with one or more general purpose programming languages, including but not limited to: Python or C/C++
• Experience with machine learning; or applications of machine learning to NLP, human-computer interaction, computer vision, speech, computer systems, robotics, algorithms, optimization, on-device learning, social networks, economics, information retrieval, journalism, or health care.
• Research experience in machine learning or deep learning (e.g. links to open-source work or link to novel learning algorithms) is preferred.
• Open-source project experience that demonstrates programming, mathematical, and machine learning abilities and interests is preferred.

Offerings

• Collaborate with distinguished scientists from various Google AI teams working on machine learning applications and problems.
• Residents have the opportunity to do everything from conducting fundamental research to contributing to products and services used by billions of people.
• Residents are on-boarded into the program as full-time employees for a fixed term of one year with full access to Google tools and infrastructure.

Microsoft AI Residency Program

• Deadline: 01/31/2019
• Duration: 12 months; September 2019 — August 2020
• Locations: Redmond, US; Cambridge, UK
• Requirements:
• BSc, MSc, and PhD graduates with substantial coursework in, but not limited to: computer science, electrical engineering, data science, mathematics, physics, economics, human-computer interaction, and computational biology.
• Experience developing in at least one high-level language such as Python or C/C++/C#.
• Experience with machine learning techniques or deep learning frameworks is desirable.
• Enthusiasm to move into the field is essential.
• Ability to work in a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary environment.
• Strong communication skills.

Offerings:

• Gain real-world, hands-on industry experience while working with Microsoft researchers, engineers, and product teams.
• Learn how to develop and deploy AI techniques and solutions at scale across a range of areas such as healthcare, scientific discovery, productivity, and gaming.
• Benefit from a rich program of training and mentorship.
• Be part of a vibrant AI and machine learning community in Cambridge or Redmond.
• Receive competitive compensation and be encouraged to apply for a regular position at Microsoft at the end the residency program.

Tech leaders Intel, Uber, and Facebook offered year-long AI residency programs this year, but any programs for 2019 have yet to be announced.

Japanese software development company Preferred Networks also organized a 4-month AI residency program this year. The company opened applications for their 2019 intern program in September. The application deadline has not yet been announced. Preferred Networks is renown for applying real-time machine-learning technologies to new applications in the field of IOT.

Journalist: Fangyu Cai | Editor: Michael Sarazen

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