Robotics Research Intern - 2026

at NVIDIA · Industrial · Zurich, Switzerland

Robotics Research Intern at NVIDIA focusing on fundamental and applied research across the full robotics stack, including perception, planning, control, reinforcement learning, imitation learning, and simulation. The goal is to transform research paradigms, transfer into products, and create new markets.

What you'd actually do

  1. Conduct fundamental and applied robotics research.
  2. Explore and develop novel algorithms for perception, planning, control, and learning.
  3. Implement and test algorithms in simulation and on real-world robotic systems.
  4. Collaborate with other researchers and engineers to advance the state-of-the-art in robotics.
  5. Publish research findings in top-tier conferences and journals.

Skills

Required

  • Strong background in robotics, AI, and machine learning.
  • Experience with reinforcement learning and/or imitation learning.
  • Proficiency in programming languages such as Python and C++.
  • Familiarity with robotics simulation environments.
  • Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills.
  • Strong communication and collaboration skills.

Nice to have

  • Experience with deep learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow).
  • Experience with computer vision and/or sensor fusion.
  • Publications in top-tier robotics, AI, or computer vision conferences.

What the JD emphasized

  • fundamental and applied robotics research
  • full robotics stack
  • reinforcement learning
  • imitation learning
  • simulation
  • transform research paradigms
  • transfer into NVIDIA’s robotics and simulation products
  • create new robotics markets

Other signals

  • robotics stack research
  • reinforcement learning
  • imitation learning
  • simulation
Read full job description

NVIDIA is at the forefront of the AI and robotics revolution, and NVIDIA’s robotics teams are on a mission to build the essential technology that can enable any company to become a robotics company. The Seattle Robotics Lab is focused on fundamental and applied robotics research across the full robotics stack, including perception, planning, control, reinforcement learning, imitation learning, and simulation. This research aims to transform research paradigms, transfer into NVIDIA’s robotics and simulation products, and create new robotics markets for the world. The Seattle Robotics Lab has led many influential works that have been presented at top robotics, AI, and computer vision conferences; these works include BayesSim, cuRobo, DeXtreme, DiSECT, Factory, GraspNet, ITPS, MimicGen, RVT, and SHAC. (See our publications page for a complete list.) The work has deeply impacted the research community and NVIDIA products, including Isaac Sim, Isaac Lab, and Isaac Manipulator. Furthermore, SRL collaborates closely with other research and engineering teams to advance and leverage the Cosmos and GR00T-N foundation models, as well as the Newton physics simulation engine.

We are looking for a PhD research intern to play a pivotal role in our research efforts, providing deep, hands-on technical contributions. These interns must have exceptional research and engineering skills, a strong research track record, and a team-first mindset. You will have the opportunity to achieve real impact, while working with some of the most creative, brilliant, and motivated researchers in the world. Our former interns have gone on to become full-time researchers and engineers at NVIDIA and other world-leading tech companies, started academic careers at top universities, and launched robotics and AI companies.

Note: This internship role will be based at NVIDIA's Zurich office.

What you will be doing:

  • Developing algorithms, models, and methods for robotic manipulation and/or loco-manipulation, for both industrial and household applications;
  • Integrating these methods into real-world robotic manipulation systems, including those consisting of collaborative robot arms, industrial robot arms, mobile manipulators, humanoids, and dexterous hands;
  • Contributing to multi-person research projects that require a diverse set of skills across the robotics and machine learning stack;
  • Engaging with the academic community through high-impact publications, conferences, workshops, and/or code releases.

What we need to see:

  • Enrolled in a PhD in Robotics, Machine Learning, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
  • Knowledge of both the theory and practice of robotics and AI, with a strong interest in connecting your work to real-world robotics applications.
  • A demonstrated research track record, with work published in top robotics and AI conferences and journals such as RSS, CoRL, ICRA, IROS, IJRR, T-RO, NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, and EMNLP.
  • Exceptional communication, collaboration, and interpersonal skills, with significant experience working on a team.
  • Exceptional programming skills in Python; in addition, familiarity with C++, CUDA, and Warp is a plus.
  • Fluency in modern deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch and JAX.
  • Experience with robotics frameworks such as ROS2 and physics simulation frameworks such as Isaac Sim, Isaac Lab, MuJoCo, and/or Newton.
  • Comfort in working through the complexities of simulation and real-world robotics, including debugging physics simulators and renderers under rapid development; selecting, setting up, maintaining, and enhancing complex robotics hardware; debugging communication systems; and designing robust workflows for model training and evaluation.

The following research areas and applications are of particular interest:

  • Bimanual and dexterous manipulation
  • Mobile manipulation and humanoid loco-manipulation
  • Multisensory perception (e.g., vision, tactile, and force/torque sensing)
  • Simulation, sim-to-real, and real-to-sim
  • Vision-language-action (VLA) models, including architectural advancements, large-scale training, and test-time reasoning
  • Industrial applications, such as bin-picking, kitting, and assembly