R&D Engineer Intern

Biohub is leading the new era of AI-powered biology to cure or prevent disease through its 501c3 medical research organization, with the support of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

The Team

The Biohub in San Francisco is an independent nonprofit research institute that brings together three powerhouse universities - Stanford, UC Berkeley, and UC San Francisco - into a single collaborative technology and discovery engine. Biohub itself supports some of the brightest, boldest engineers, data scientists, and biomedical researchers to investigate the fundamental mechanisms underlying disease and develop new technologies that will lead to actionable diagnostics and effective therapies. We are guided by our values of scholarly excellence; disruptive innovation; hands-on engineering/hacking/building; partnership and collaboration; open communication and respect; inclusiveness; and opportunity for all.

Our Vision

• We pursue large scientific challenges that cannot be pursued in conventional environments
• We enable individual investigators to pursue their riskiest and most innovative ideas
• The technologies developed at Biohub facilitate research by scientists and clinicians at our home institutions and beyond

Diversity of thought, ideas, and perspectives are at the heart of Biohub and enable disruptive innovation and scholarly excellence. We are committed to cultivating an organization where all colleagues feel inspired and know their work makes an important contribution.

The Opportunity

The Biohub in San Francisco is seeking a highly motivated undergraduate student to join our 10-week Summer Internship Program, running from June 16, 2026, to August 21, 2026. R&D Engineering Interns are embedded within active research and technology teams, contributing directly to ongoing platform and method development efforts. Each project is carefully scoped to be achievable within the internship timeframe while delivering meaningful technical and scientific impact.

Interns will spend the summer immersed in real-world research alongside biomedical researchers, research scientists, data scientists, and engineers. In addition to gaining hands-on technical experience aligned to top scientific priorities, interns will develop critical professional skills—including scientific communication, problem-solving, and collaboration—and will have opportunities to build relationships with scientists who provide mentorship, guidance, and career insight.

Available Project Areas (Summer 2026)
Smart Microscopy & Adaptive Imaging for Dynamic Cell Profiling
This project focuses on developing smart microscopy features that improve how biological imaging data are collected. Dynamic imaging is a cornerstone technology for many Biohub research programs, and this internship will explore how integrating microscope control, computer vision, and machine learning can enable adaptive data acquisition that prioritizes biologically meaningful events.

The intern will help design, implement, and test software features that guide microscope acquisition in real time—selecting fields of view, time points, and z-slices that maximize the capture of relevant biological information. Working closely with computational imaging scientists, AI/ML engineers, and biology collaborators, the intern will apply these tools to study organelle remodeling during innate immune responses.

By the end of the internship, the intern will have contributed to working smart-sampling features integrated into an active microscopy acquisition pipeline, along with documented results and software suitable for reuse in future projects.

What You'll Do

• Receive support through a 10-week experience
• Receive mentorship to support your personal and professional development
• Gain and enhance your technical and transferable skills through training and seminars
• Learn how to design, plan, and carry out laboratory and/or computational scientific experiments
• Present at the end-of-program symposium
• Build relationships with peers and colleagues

What You'll Bring

• Pursuing a bachelor’s degree in physics, engineering, computer science, or life sciences
• Strong programming experience (e.g., Python, MATLAB, C++, ROS, or similar)
• Interest in hardware automation, imaging systems, or robotics
• Prior research experience (academic or internship experience)
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a team environment
• Strong verbal and written communication skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with image analysis or computer vision tools (e.g., scikit-image, OpenCV, PyTorch, ImageJ)
• Exposure to microscopy, imaging automation, or experimental biology through coursework or research
• Interest in interdisciplinary research spanning engineering, computation, and biology

Program Eligibility

• Must be a current undergraduate student (enrolled full time at a college or university both Spring 2026 AND Fall 2026 terms)
• Must be able to commit to the 10-week Summer Internship Program June 16, 2026, to August 21, 2026.
• Must be able to be on-site at the Biohub in San Francisco for the duration of the program

Compensation

The San Francisco, CA pay for a new hire in this role is $60.48/hour. 

What We Provide

• Hands-on, one-of-a-kind experience
• Hourly compensation
• Invaluable relationships
• Trainings and seminars
• Social events/activities

Housing & Work Location

Interns are responsible for securing and paying for their own housing for the duration of the internship. This internship is fully on-site, and interns are expected to be present on-site for the full program duration. The organization does not provide housing or housing stipends as part of the internship program.

What to Expect: Application & Program Timeline

We aim to make our internship hiring process transparent and predictable. Below is the anticipated timeline for the Summer 2026 Program:

• January 16, 2026 – Applications open
• February 1, 2026 – Application deadline
  • All application materials must be submitted by this date for full consideration.
• Late January – February 2026 – Application review & interviews
  • Applications will be reviewed by the recruiting and research teams. Selected candidates will be invited to interviews during this period.
• March 2026 – Offers extended and finalized
  • Internship offers will be extended on a rolling basis, with all offers expected to be accepted by early March.
• June 16 – August 21, 2026 – Summer Internship Program
  • Interns join Biohub for a 10-week, immersive research experience, concluding with an end-of-program symposium.

Dates are subject to minor adjustments; candidates will be kept informed throughout the process.

#LI-Onsite