Important Notice

2020/04/24 Update: We have closed the call for applications for PFN Summer Domestic Internship 2020. Thank you for many applications.

2020/04/23 Update: Due to COVID-19, we’ve decided to hold this year’s domestic summer internship program remotely. After reviewing the feasibility of each theme, we concluded that it would be difficult to hold “19. Development of Modules for Human Pose Estimation” remotely and cancelled it.

This program is only for students who already have visa eligibility to work in Japan as an intern this summer. Applications for 2020 global internships (those who need visa support to work in Japan) are being accepted separately till March 30, 2020. For details, please visit https://www.preferred.jp/en/news/internship2020global/ (Closed).

Note that depending on the situation of the COVID-19 infection in Japan in the future, we may take measures such as canceling the program or changing the schedule and contents of the program.

Overview

Preferred Networks (PFN) is looking for enthusiastic interns who can work with us in our Tokyo office this summer. Students who applied for previous internships are also eligible to re-apply (except those who previously interned with PFN). We welcome students who want to develop new technologies, software, and services across a wide range of computer science areas (including machine learning) with us.

Index

Characteristics and Duration of PFN Internship

Theme List

Key Qualifications

Important Notes before You Apply

How to Apply

Selection Process

Basic Employment Conditions and Benefits

Characteristics and Duration of PFN Internship

• Over the 1.5 month period, PFN researchers and engineers will be assigned to work with you as a mentor. You will have opportunities to discuss, study, and develop in your internship theme with specialists in various fields including deep learning, computer vision, robotics, bio-healthcare, reinforcement learning, and distributed processing.
• We encourage the results of the internship to be published as OSS, papers, and PFN Research & Development blogs if there are no confidentiality or rights issues.  

• Start date：Tuesday, August 11th, 2020  (Negotiable)
• End date： Friday, September 18th, 2020
  • You can choose to continue to work in the week of September 23rd – 30th under the same terms and conditions.
    • This year’s internship will end on September 18th in principle in consideration of the fact that many schools start their fall semester in late September. 
    • If the above case does not pertain to you and you need more time to finalize your research or want to spend more time with our staff, you can extend your internship until September 30th under the same terms and conditions. 
    • We understand you may have to be absent for (e.g.) lab activities, attending academic conferences, and returning home for family commitments. We are flexible about your need to take days off due to these reasons.

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Theme List

• For the 2020 Domestic Internship at PFN, we have prepared the themes listed further below for both engineering interns and research interns:
  • Engineering intern: who emphasizes development that does not necessarily aim for research presentation (re-implementation of dissertation, development of OSS, etc.)
  • Research intern: who aims to conduct research more autonomously and publish the results as a paper
• During the selection process or after completion, you will discuss with our members to finalize your theme. You can choose up to 2 themes in the application form. 
• Any intellectual properties achieved through your internship activities shall belong to PFN.  Therefore, upon determination of intern theme, please ensure not to bring your own research theme at the research lab at your university or other organization you belong to.

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Engineering

[+] 1. Research and Development on Data Science / Machine Learning Application

Research and Development on Data Science / Machine Learning Application

Must Requirements

・Broad knowledge on machine learning
・Skill and experience of literature survey and software implementation

Want Requirements

・Experience of winning a data analysis competition such as Kaggle
・Knowledge and experience on outlier detection / anomaly detection
・Contribution to any open source software or engineering skill to develop software libraries

[+] 2. Development of a Framework or Libraries for Executing Deep Learning Models on Actual Products

① Development of Framework for High-speed Executing Deep Learning Models on a Smartphone and Other Edge Devices

Must Requirements

・Experience with implementation of deep learning models
・Experience with implementation of an application for a smartphone (or other devices)

Want Requirements

・Knowledge in ONNX, MLIR
・Experience with optimization for machine learning models and source code.
・Knowledge in vendor tools such as SNPE and so on.

② Development of Obfuscation Tools

Must Requirements

・Excellent results of CTF rev/pwn
・Deep knowledge of linker (cf: have an ability to complete https://github.com/shinh/sold)

Want Requirements

None

[+] 3. Development and Application of Differentiable Graphics and Rendering

① Development of a High-Quality Library of Differentiable Graphics and Rendering

Must Requirements

・Experience with Python
・Experience with implementation of deep learning systems
・Knowledge in 3D computer vision or computer graphics
・High skill in software development

Want Requirements

・Experience with PyTorch
・Experience with CUDA programming
・Experience with software development in a team
・Open source development contribution

② 3D Reconstruction of Large Scene Using Differentiable Rendering Engine

Must Requirements

・Python coding skill
・Experience on developing image recognition system using deep neural networks

Want Requirements

・Experience and knowledge on 3D computer vision
・Experience on training deep neural networks using many GPUs

[+] 4. Research and Development on Image Recognition

① NAS for Image Recognition

Must Requirements

・Python coding skill
・Experience on developing image recognition system using deep neural networks

Want Requirements

・Experience with PyTorch
・Experience writing papers or externally presenting articles on computer vision and machine learning.

② Image Recognition with Minimal Annotation Effort

Must Requirements

・Python coding skill
・Experience on developing image recognition system using deep neural networks

Want Requirements

・Experience with PyTorch
・Experience writing papers or externally presenting articles on computer vision and machine learning.

[+] 5. Development of Object Recognition System Using 3D Data

① Object Surface Material Estimation on 3D Scanner

Must Requirements

・Python coding skill
・Experience on developing image recognition system using deep neural networks

Want Requirements

・Experience and knowledge on 3D computer vision

② Training Image Recognition Model Efficiently by Using CG Images

Must Requirements

・Python coding skill
・Experience on developing image recognition system using deep neural networks

Want Requirements

・Experience and knowledge on 3D computer vision
・Experience on using 3D game engines or modeling tools like Unity or Blender

③ Developing Annotation Tools for 3D Data

Must Requirements

・Python coding skill
・Experience on using 3D game engines or modeling tools like Unity or Blender

Want Requirements

・Experience and knowledge on 3D computer vision

[+] 6. High-Performance Data Communication Network for Parallel and Distributed Deep Learning

High-Performance Data Communication Network for Parallel and Distributed Deep Learning

Must Requirements

・Fundamental knowledge on TCP/IP and datacenter network
・System programming skills
・Fundamental knowledge of operating systems and PC architecture

Want Requirements

・Knowledge on RDMA and RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE)
・Experience on network device (Ethernet switches) configuration
・Network monitoring skills (Streaming Telemetry / Netflow / IPFIX)
・Understanding of data communication and collective operations in parallel and distributed deep learning
・Fundamental knowledge on system observability and data collection/visualization tools (e.g. Prometheus)

[+] 7. Development of Compiler Backend for MN-Core

Development of compiler backend for MN-Core

Must Requirements

・Knowledge on computer architectures
・Knowledge of compiler backend
・Enough experience in C++

Want Requirements

・Knowledge in basic algorithms and workflow of machine learning / deep learning
・Knowledge in APIs of deep learning flameworks
・Experience with optimization on accelerator

[+] 8. Development of System Software for MN-Core

Development of system software for MN-Core

Must Requirements

・Experience in system programming
・Knowledge on computer architectures and operating systems
・Knowledge and implementation experience in concurrent / parallel processing

Want Requirements

Knowledge / experience in performance measurement and monitoring

[+] 9. Development of a Library for Multiple-types of Biological Data Analysis

Development of a Library for Multiple-types of Biological Data Analysis (e.g., DNA/RNA Sequences and Phenotype)

Must Requirements

・Python coding skill (Fluency in Python)
・Basic knowledge of biology (undergrad level)

Want Requirements

・Experience of development tools (e.g., git)
・Experience of team development.
・Experience of using biological data analysis libraries

[+] 10. Application Research or Development of Machine Learning or Molecular Simulation in Drug Discovery

Application research or development of machine learning or molecular simulation in drug discovery

Must Requirements

・Python coding skill
・Knowledge on Chemoinformatics
・Basic knowledge on Biology & Chemistry

Want Requirements

・C++ coding skill
・Project level experience with parallel computation using MPI, etc.
・Experience with RDKit library
・Experience with deep learning (using PyTorch, etc.)
・Experience of MD simulation of biopolymer & free energy calculation

[+] 11. Deep Learning-based Atomic simulation and Its Application to Material Development

Deep learning based atomic simulation and its application to material development

Must Requirements

・Python coding skill
・Knowledge about atomic simulation (e.g., molecular dynamics, reaction pathway analysis, chemical property calculation / optimization, etc.)

Want Requirements

・For those who are interested in the application : A suggestion for specific target system or phenomena is preferable.
・For those who are interested in simulator development : A knowledge on recent deep learning for atomic simulation and experience on deep learning implementation and/or a suggestion for specific tasks to solve is preferable.
・Experience at conferences or writing papers
※We do not limit target system, including metal, semiconductor, battery, ceramics, organic molecular system, etc. Also, we do not limit target phenomena. Any engineering fields, including chemical reaction process, mechanical properties, etc., are applicable.

[+] 12. Application of deep learning techniques to animation

Application of deep learning techniques to animation

Must Requirements

・Python coding skill
・Experience with implementation of deep learning systems

Want Requirements

・Experience with PyTorch or Chainer
・Experience with implementation of deep generative models
・High skill in software development
・Interest in anime, etc.

[+] 13. Development of Simulator Developing Technologies and Simulator-related Technologies for Industrial Process

Development of simulator developing technologies and simulator-related technologies for industrial process

Must Requirements

・Programming skills (e.g., Python, C/C++)
・Experience on system programming

Want Requirements

・Knowledge and experience of numerical analysis
・Excellent skill in software development
・Experience of compiler / interpreter implementation
・Knowledge and experience of HPC (in particular CUDA programming)

[+] 14. Application of Reinforcement Learning to Robotics

Application of reinforcement learning to robotics

Must Requirements

・Knowledge and experience in reinforcement learning and deep learning
・Experience in programming with robots
・Python coding skill

Want Requirements

・Excellent skill in software development
・Knowledge in robotics
・Experience in PyTorch or Chainer
・Research experience in machine learning

[+] 15.Computer Vision for Autonomous Driving

Computer vision for autonomous driving

Must Requirements

・Knowledge about deep learning-based computer vision
・Solid understanding of linear algebra, machine learning
・Experience with implementing deep learning algorithms
・Great Python coding skill, knowledge of software development best practices, debugging / profiling

Want Requirements

・Experience with PyTorch
・Experience with a GPU tensor processing library such as CuPy/ATen
・Familiar with typical data science environment such as JupyterLab / Jupyter Notebook, k8s, bash scripting, Linux
・Experience with scaling up deep learning experiments to multiple GPUs
・Experience working with high resolution images or videos on a limited memory GPU
・Published a computer vision paper as the first author

[+] 16. Development of Optuna

Development of Optuna

Must Requirements

・Experience with developing/contributing to OSS or equivalent

Want Requirements

・Strong track records of ML such as publication, competition, etc.
・Domain knowledge of Bayesian optimization and/or automatic machine learning

[+] 17. Development of Distributed Reinforcement Learning Technology

Reproduction and Improvement of Distributed Reinforcement Learning Code

Must Requirements

Implementation experience of training code using distributed learning

Want Requirements

・Experience with Python
・Implementation experience of parallel algorithm using multi-node
・Implementation experience of reinforcement learning algorithm

[+] 18. Development of Related Localization Technology

① Image Retrieval Technology Development for Localization

Must Requirements

・Advanced knowledge of machine learning and computer vision
・Experience of machine learning framework (PyTorch and Chainer is preferred)

Want Requirements

・Experience writing papers or externally presenting articles on computer vision and machine learning
・Image retrieval technology development experience

② Development of Direct / Indirect Hybrid SLAM

Must Requirements

・Advanced knowledge of machine learning and computer vision
・Experience of SLAM development and implementation

Want Requirements

・Experience writing papers or externally presenting articles on computer vision and machine learning
・Advanced coding skills

③ Localization Technology Development Using 3dLiDAR

Must Requirements

Advanced knowledge of machine learning and computer vision

Want Requirements

・Experience writing papers or externally presenting articles on computer vision and machine learning
・Image retrieval technology development experience

[+] [Cancelled] 19. Development of Modules for Human Pose Estimation

Due to COVID-19, we’ve decided to hold this event remotely. After reviewing, we concluded that it would be difficult to hold this theme remotely and decided to cancel it. We will contact those who already applied for this theme over email individually.

Development of Modules for Human Pose Estimation from Perspective Viewpoint by Fisheye Lens

Must Requirements

・Experience with implementation of deep learning models
・Experience with 3D rendering

Want Requirements

・Advanced knowledge in computer vision

[+] 20. Quantitative Finance Using Machine Learning

【Engineering】Quantitaive Finance using Machine Learning

Must Requirements

・Basic knowledge of machine learning and finance

Want Requirements

・High expertise in finance-friendly fields

Research

[+] 21. Machine Learning-based Physical Simulation

Machine Learning based Physical Simulation

Must Requirements

・Advanced knowledge of machine learning
・Experience of machine learning framework (PyTorch and Chainer is preferred)
・Basic knowledge of physics or chemistry

Want Requirements

・Experience of building simulation model
・Knowledge and experience of numerical analysis

[+] 22. Research on the Current Medical Image Problems Such As Practical Use of Few Samples and/or Evaluation of the Difference between Facilities / Machines

Research on the Current Medical Image Problems Such As Practical Use of Few Samples and/or Evaluation of the Difference between Facilities / Machines

Must Requirements

・Knowledge of computer vision
・Skills of deep learning frameworks (e.g. Chainer, TensorFlow, Keras, PyTorch, MXNet)
・Programming skills (e.g. Python, C/C++)

Want Requirements

・Knowledge of biology equivalent to at least undergraduate level
・Experience of research with images or video data
・Publishing papers in the field of biology, mathematics, or informatics
・Experience developing applications using machine learning or deep learning

[+] 23. Machine Learning Research: Deep Learning towards Society

Machine learning research: Deep learning towards society

Must Requirements

・Publishing record in top-tier conferences and/or journals as a main contributor
・In-depth understanding of machine learning in general

Want Requirements

・Applicant shall preferably be a Ph.D candidate or equivalent.
・Applicant is expected to have had some implementation experience of deep learning frameworks like Chainer and Pytorch.
・Applicant shall apply with his/her own research proposal. The proposal MUST NOT have any overlap with any project in the ongoing graduate program
・Applicant is expected to be well versed with the theoretical background of the machine learning field of his/her interest

[+] 24. Quantitative Finance Using Machine Learning

[Reseach] Quantitaive Finance Using Machine Learning

Must Requirements

・Advanced knowledge of machine learning and finance

Want Requirements

・High expertise in finance-friendly fields.
・Experience writing papers on finance.

[+] 25. Next-generation Architectures for Highly Efficient Learning and Inference

Research on Next-generation Architectures for Highly-efficient (Deep Learning) Training and Inference

Must Requirements

・Basic knowledge of deep learning and inference
・Solid knowledge of computer architecture
・HDL coding skills

Want Requirements

・Actual design experience
・Experience using EDA tools
・Experience in architecture research

[+] 26. Machine Learning and EDA

Research on Machine Learning Applications in EDA (Electronic Design Automation)

Must Requirements

・Expertise in machine learning
・Experience using EDA tools
・Basic knowledge of EDA algorithms

Want Requirements

・Experience in EDA research
・Experience using/applying machine/deep learning

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Key Qualifications

• PFN is seeking highly motivated and skilled individuals who can develop applications, tools, etc., independently. 
• Knowledge and development experience based on the themes listed in [Theme List] will be considered in the selection process. Please check each theme for details. The common requirements are:
  • Currently enrolled in high school, technical college, university, or graduate school. Negotiable for those attending other higher education institutions
  • Fluent in Japanese or English
  • Strong communication skills
  • Can work from our Tokyo office on weekdays
    (we are not accepting remote working for the internship program currently)
• Do not hesitate to apply even if you don’t have prior experience in full-scale development.

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Important Notes before You Apply

• Non-Japanese students who are studying at Japanese universities with a student visa must make sure to get【Permission for Other Activity / 資格外活動許可】before the start date of your PFN internship program.
• You need to let us know in advance if any administrative work is required to receive academic credit from your school. Please note that depending on the complexity of the work, PFN may not be able to accommodate your request.

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How to Apply

• Click this application form to apply. To access the application form, you will need to log in with a Google account.  We use your personal information filled in the application form for selection of summer interns.

• About submission of your portfolio
  • Summarize your skills and qualifications freely in an A4 paper to pitch yourself. 
  • Highlight and showcase some of your best work such as software you have developed, published papers, awards or prizes you have received, programming contests you have participated in, your blog, your sites, Twitter account, and other social media sites. 
  • Please upload it using the “Portfolio to pitch yourself” field in the application form.
• Deadline：Friday, April 24th, 12:00 PM JST (No late submission allowed)
• For inquiries:intern2020-admin@preferred.jp
  • An online Q&A session will be set separately soon. Please follow our Twitter account (@PreferredNet) to check the details!

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Selection Process

First screening

• After we close the application on April 24th, we will send the coding tests to all applicants in principle on the same day after 18:00.
• The deadline for submitting coding tests is May 8th, 12:00 PM JST.
• The result of the first screening will be sent after May 22nd.

Interviews

• One interview, in principle.  Additional interviews may also be required depending on the situation.
• Interview will be held in the PFN Tokyo Office. Remote interview via Zoom is also available for candidates in distant areas.
  ※Some or all interviews may be conducted online due to the COVID-19.
• The interview will take place within 4 weeks from May 25th. 

Offer

• The notification of the overall interview result will be given on June 29th or later.

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Basic Employment Conditions And Benefits

• Location
  • PFN Tokyo Office
  • Otemachi Bldg., 1-6-1, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan 100-0004

• Salaries：
  • 2,500 yen an hour for technical college, university, graduate school students
  • 2,000 yen an hour for high school students
• Work hours：8 hours in principle. 5 days a week excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays.  
• Commuting fee support：PFN will pay for your daily commute to and from the office in an approved route.
• Travel cost：For students traveling a long distance by plane or Shinkansen to participate in the internship, PFN will support the cost for one round trip to relocate between the Tokyo area and the place where you’re currently living.
• Accommodation support：For students coming from distant areas, PFN will provide an accommodation allowance of 5,000 yen per day for the entire period of your internship including holidays. 
  • You need to arrange a place to stay by yourself. Reasonable weekly rental apartments are available near the PFN office ranging from 100,000 to 150,000 yen a month. 
  • Please note that the accommodation allowance is taxable.

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