Internship - Foundational Research Scientist

Smule • Salt Lake City, UT

29d

About The Position

Smule is seeking a Research Scientist intern to join its Foundational Research team. This role involves pursuing long-horizon research questions to advance the state of the art in sequence modeling, generative modeling, and representation learning, with a focus on audio and music applications. The intern will design and execute experiments, aim to publish at top venues, and contribute novel ideas to Smule's research agenda. Candidates with diverse backgrounds, including physics, mathematics, signal processing, music technology, and neuroscience, are encouraged to apply. The ideal candidate is deeply curious, comfortable with open-ended exploration, and motivated by scientific contribution.

Requirements

• Degree (B.S., M.S., or Ph.D.) in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical discipline, or currently pursuing one.
• Strong publication record at top ML/AI venues demonstrating original contributions.
• Deep expertise in at least one core area: sequence modeling, generative models, optimization, probabilistic methods, or representation learning.
• Proficiency in Python and modern deep learning frameworks (PyTorch preferred).
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to present complex ideas clearly to diverse audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to independently scope, execute, and communicate a research project from idea to publication.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with audio, speech, or music signal processing and modeling.
• Familiarity with linear attention mechanisms, state-space models, or efficient transformer variants.
• Experience with large-scale distributed training and high-performance computing.
• Track record of successful cross-functional collaboration with engineering teams.

Responsibilities

• Identify, scope, and lead independent research projects that push the boundaries of current understanding in areas such as efficient sequence modeling, generative audio, representation learning, and optimization.
• Design experiments with rigorous controls, ablation studies, and statistical analysis to validate hypotheses.
• Publish findings at top-tier venues (NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, Interspeech, ISMIR, or equivalent) and contribute to the broader research community through open-source artifacts and talks.
• Collaborate with applied research and engineering teams to translate foundational insights into practical improvements for Smule's products.
• Stay current with the latest literature, synthesize relevant work, and identify high-leverage research directions for the team.
• Mentor junior researchers and interns, fostering a culture of intellectual rigor and creative exploration.

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Intern
• Education Level: No Education Listed