Summer Research Program Intern 2027, Secure Resilient Systems and Technology (Group 05-53)

If you like tackling hard technical problems, exploring new ideas, and putting them to the test on cybersecurity challenges that matter, we want you to spend your summer doing real R&D with us.

The Secure Resilient Systems and Technology (https://www.ll.mit.edu/r-d/cyber-security-and-information-sciences/secure-resilient-systems-and-technology) group develops and evaluates technologies that enable critical national security systems to withstand cyberattack and continue the mission. Our interns work alongside our staff on real R&D problems, building and evaluating technologies for systems ranging from space and autonomous platforms to tactical communications and secure computing.

Our research spans secure software and embedded systems, security architecture and threat modeling, applied cryptography, formal methods, and security evaluation. It increasingly includes the intersection of AI and cybersecurity, both using AI to advance cybersecurity and securing AI-enabled mission systems.

We are looking for students who combine technical curiosity with a desire to build and experiment. If you care about technical excellence, want your work to have real national security impact, and enjoy turning ideas into working systems, we would like to hear from you.

Job Description

As a summer research intern, you will join a small team and work closely with a technical mentor to research, develop, analyze, and evaluate new cybersecurity technologies and approaches for mission-critical systems.

Depending on the project, you may:

• Design, implement, analyze, prototype, or evaluate new security technologies, methods, and tools.

• Analyze software and systems to understand threats, identify vulnerabilities, or evaluate security and resilience.

• Develop and apply software analysis, security testing, formal methods, cryptographic, or AI-enabled techniques to cybersecurity problems.

• Design and conduct experiments to evaluate new technical approaches.

• Present your results and contribute software, experimental results, or other technical artifacts to ongoing research.

Qualifications:

• Currently pursuing a BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Cybersecurity, Software Engineering, or a closely related field. BS candidates should have completed at least their sophomore year; rising seniors are preferred.

• Demonstrated hands-on technical experience beyond coursework, through research, internships, substantial projects, competitions, open-source development, or comparable experience.

• Strong technical problem-solving skills and hands-on experience in one or more of the following:

• Software design and development in Rust (preferred), C/C++, Python, or another relevant language.

• Secure software, operating systems, embedded systems, or network protocols.

• Security testing and evaluation, including adversarial testing and experimental methods.

• Software analysis and applied formal methods.

• Applied cryptography and security protocols.

• AI-enabled tools and techniques for software analysis, vulnerability discovery, security testing, threat analysis, or cyber defense

Compensation Data

Hourly pay rates below are effective January 2026 – December 2026 and will be reviewed again for Summer 2027. Rates are based on the highest academic year or degree completed before the internship start date.

Freshman year completed: $25.00/hour Sophomore year completed: $27.00/hour Junior year completed: $29.00/hour 4th year of 5 year program completed, no degree conferred: $32.00/hour Bachelors completed: $34.50/hour Bachelors + 1, one year of graduate study completed: $36.50/hour Bachelors + 2, two years of graduate study completed: $38.00/hour MS completed: $39.00/hour MS + 1, one year of graduate study completed after the MS: $41.00/hour MS + 2, two years of graduate study completed after the MS: $42.50/hour MS + 3, three years of graduate study completed after the MS: $43.50/hour

MIT Lincoln Laboratory is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, veteran status, disability status, or genetic information; U.S. citizenship is required.

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