2026 Summer Intern – Large Language Models

2026 Summer Intern - Large Language Models (Prescient Design / AI for Drug Discovery)

Department Summary

Prescient Design, part of Genentech’s Research and Early Development (gRED) organization, advances drug discovery through cutting-edge machine learning. Our Foundation Models team builds internal large language models (LLMs) that enable next-generation scientific and biomedical applications across the drug-discovery pipeline.

We are seeking exceptional graduate student interns with strong ML research or engineering backgrounds, the ability to drive independent exploration, and a record of solving complex technical problems in collaborative settings.

This internship is on-site in New York City.

The Opportunity

• Contribute to research and development of internal LLMs for scientific discovery and therapeutic molecular design.

• Develop and evaluate advanced post-training techniques to enhance domain knowledge and strengthen reasoning capabilities for scientific and biomedical applications.

• Support large-scale model training on high-performance GPU clusters.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to design and implement applied LLM use cases.

Program Highlights

• A 12-week, full-time paid internship (40 hours per week).

• Program start dates in May or June 2026.

• Location-based stipend to support internship expenses.

• Ownership of impactful, high-visibility projects.

• Collaboration with leading experts in biotechnology and AI.

Who You Are

Required Education

Must be pursuing a PhD (enrolled student).

Required Majors 

Computer Science, Data Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, or a related technical field.

Required Skills

• Strong Python skills and experience with ML frameworks such as PyTorch.

• Solid understanding of neural networks, representation learning, and modern supervised/unsupervised methods

• Excellent written and verbal communication, and ability to work effectively with interdisciplinary teams.

Preferred Knowledge, Skills, and Qualifications

• Hands-on experience with large language models, especially post-training workflows (e.g., supervised fine-tuning and reinforcement learning) to improve instruction following, tool use, reasoning, and domain-specific performance.

• Experience with GPU clusters or distributed training systems for efficient large-scale model training.

• Exposure to drug discovery workflows, biomedical data analysis, or related life-science applications is a plus but not required.

Relocation benefits are not available for this job posting. 

The expected salary range for this position based on the primary location of  New York is $50.00 per hour.  Actual pay will be determined based on experience, qualifications, geographic location, and other job-related factors permitted by law. This position also qualifies for paid holiday time off benefits.

Genentech is an equal opportunity employer. It is our policy and practice to employ, promote, and otherwise treat any and all employees and applicants on the basis of merit, qualifications, and competence. The company's policy prohibits unlawful discrimination, including but not limited to, discrimination on the basis of Protected Veteran status, individuals with disabilities status, and consistent with all federal, state, or local laws.