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MERL Internship Program

MERL's internship program gives students excellent opportunities to work in an industrial research lab environment side-by-side with world-class researchers.

Program Overview
The internship program at MERL emphasizes close collaboration with a particular researcher or members of a small team. Primary areas of work include:

• Digital communications and networking
• Imaging, computer vision and graphics
• Video compression
• Information security
• Speech and audio processing
• Machine learning
• Data and sensor systems
• Mechatronics and control
• Algorithms and optimization

A primary intent of the program is to provide interns with experience that could help them enhance and accelerate their professional career, while also contributing to new or ongoing initiatives at MERL. Interns will be exposed to relevant industrial problems ranging from speculative and exploratory research to more practical engineering tasks. We hope that all interns have a chance to become familiar with our organization and the open research culture at MERL, produce publishable work, and develop an appreciation for how breakthrough research makes an impact on future products.

MERL considers applicants at all levels of education including undergraduate and graduate students from all over the world. As many of our projects benefit from specialized knowledge in a given field, graduate students pursuing a Ph.D. typically fill the majority of internship openings.

The duration of a typical internship varies from 3 months to 1 year, with the majority of interns being employed during the summer months. As the summer is a very busy time, we encourage applications for non-summer internships and also prefer early applications for summer internships. Hiring decisions for the summer are typically made around February/March to allow enough time for any necessary paperwork (such as visa applications or other work eligibility forms) to be completed.

Boston is a fantastic city with one of the most dense student populations of any city in the US. There are many social and leisure activities to get involved in, and no shortage of things to do during your stay. With close proximity to major universities such as MIT and Harvard, there are also many chances to attend seminars and lectures by well known experts in various fields. During the summer, MERL also organizes a number of social activities for all interns to participate. Some past activities included BBQ outings, whale watching, Wii tournaments, and movie nights.

Benefits of a MERL Internship

• MERL interns are assigned to challenging tasks related to cutting-edge technologies. At MERL, you will have the opportunity to work closely with top researchers in the respective fields, gain valuable industry experience and be exposed to the operation of a corporate research lab.
• MERL prides itself in being an open research lab, which strongly encourages publication of outstanding research results in major conferences and journals. We hope that all interns have an opportunity to publish work done at MERL.
• MERL offers competitive hourly rates. Rates are based on level of education and experience and on past employment history. Interns are also paid for company holidays during their employment.
• MERL provides relocation assistance. Specifically, the company pays the cost of travel to Boston including your flight or mileage reimbursement, as well as one night hotel for students based in the US and three nights hotel for those traveling from abroad.
• A great networking opportunity—not only with MERL's staff, but also with peers from other universities, within the greater Boston area, and other locations from around the world.
• The opportunity to get to know MERL and consider the possibility of a future career with our organization. If applying elsewhere in the future, your host could also serve as a reference for you.

Please see Current Openings for a list of current specific internship listings.