What are the responsibilities and job description for the Software Engineer Intern position at Simons Foundation?
The Scientific Computing Core (SCC) manages supercomputing resources and provides high performance computing (HPC) expertise to all centers at the Flatiron Institute, developing tools broadly useful to the scientific community as a whole.
SCC is seeking a Software Engineer Intern to apply their development skills to original computational projects. The selected candidate will have a chance to collaborate on an open-source project while learning about numerical algorithms, GPU computing, MPI, and various other high performance computing (HPC) topics.
The internship will be focused on HPC, and not machine learning, though many of the techniques used can be applied to accelerate machine learning applications. The selected candidate will be on SCC premises daily to meet with their supervisor, collaborate with scientists from a broad range of disciplines, present their progress, and participate in discussions. At the completion of their projects, they will orally present their work and potentially prepare a research paper.
The internship will take place in-person at the Simons Foundation’s offices in New York City from June 1, 2026 – August 14, 2026.
Applicable travel assistance to New York City and a supported temporary housing option while in New York City may be available.
Visit the Summer at Simons page to learn more.
Essential Functions/Responsibilities
Education
Many of the greatest ideas and discoveries come from a diverse mix of minds, backgrounds, and experiences. The Simons Foundation is committed to advancing basic science and mathematics to benefit humankind and expand our collective understanding of our world. As part of our mission, we support partners, programs, and initiatives that seek to broaden the scientific community and open pathways to science and mathematics careers.
The Simons Foundation provides equal opportunities to all applicants without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, pregnancy, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic disposition, neurodiversity, disability, veteran status, or any other protected category under federal, state, and local law.
SCC is seeking a Software Engineer Intern to apply their development skills to original computational projects. The selected candidate will have a chance to collaborate on an open-source project while learning about numerical algorithms, GPU computing, MPI, and various other high performance computing (HPC) topics.
The internship will be focused on HPC, and not machine learning, though many of the techniques used can be applied to accelerate machine learning applications. The selected candidate will be on SCC premises daily to meet with their supervisor, collaborate with scientists from a broad range of disciplines, present their progress, and participate in discussions. At the completion of their projects, they will orally present their work and potentially prepare a research paper.
The internship will take place in-person at the Simons Foundation’s offices in New York City from June 1, 2026 – August 14, 2026.
Applicable travel assistance to New York City and a supported temporary housing option while in New York City may be available.
Visit the Summer at Simons page to learn more.
Essential Functions/Responsibilities
- Assist in planning and implementation of novel generic open source computational tools and broader research software. Some recent projects that are in active development include, but are not limited to:
- High-performance multidimensional function interpolator https://github.com/blackwer/baobzi
- Massively parallel fully resolved hydrodynamic simulation of cytoskeletal elements https://github.com/flatironinstitute/SkellySim
- Novel algorithms for fast evaluation of All-Pairs kernels https://github.com/flatironinstitute/DMK
- Determining energy landscapes for structures imaged using Cryogenic Electron Microscopy https://github.com/flatironinstitute/ManifoldEM
- Experimental JIT compilation for performance critical code in C https://github.com/blackwer/RuFuS
- Use github to organize workflow and effectively collaborate on team programming projects
- Use Flatiron cluster resources to profile/benchmark/test software
- Perform any other duties or tasks as assigned or required
Education
- Must be a student enrolled in an accredited graduate degree program
- Students enrolled in physics, mathematics, computer science, or related disciplines preferred
- Written or made a major contribution to a significant project in one of the following languages: C/C , Julia, Python, MATLAB, FORTRAN, CUDA
- Basic knowledge of the Linux command line
- Working expertise with object oriented programming in C and Python, desired
- Practical experience in HPC and cluster computing topics such as MPI, GPU/CUDA and Slurm, desired
- Course experience in data structures and algorithms or equivalent, desired
- Basic knowledge of Git/GitHub, particularly when dealing with shared projects, desired
- Must enjoy working in a research-driven environment
- Desire to document code and process, deliberative decision-making.
- Strong oral and written communication
- Excellent collaborative and interpersonal skills
- Resume or CV
- Cover letter indicating your interest in the position
- Applications for summer 2026 must be submitted by February 6, 2026
- This internship pays $20, $25 or $28 per hour, depending on degree level
Many of the greatest ideas and discoveries come from a diverse mix of minds, backgrounds, and experiences. The Simons Foundation is committed to advancing basic science and mathematics to benefit humankind and expand our collective understanding of our world. As part of our mission, we support partners, programs, and initiatives that seek to broaden the scientific community and open pathways to science and mathematics careers.
The Simons Foundation provides equal opportunities to all applicants without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, pregnancy, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic disposition, neurodiversity, disability, veteran status, or any other protected category under federal, state, and local law.
Salary : $20 - $28