Research Scientist Intern, 3D Scene Understanding (PhD)
MetaJobsCloseBy Editorial Insights
Meta Reality Labs Research is seeking a highly motivated PhD student to join as a Research Scientist Intern for Summer 2026 in Zurich, onsite, with a focus on 3D scene understanding. The program runs 12 to 24 weeks and offers hands on work in efficient 3D representation learning, hierarchical scene graphs, open vocabulary multimodal grounding, dynamic object tracking and edge aware reasoning, including designing experiments on public datasets and AR/VR data with an eye toward CVPR level publications. Ideal candidates are pursuing a PhD in Computer Vision, ML, or Robotics with demonstrated work in 3D scene understanding, multimodal learning, or large scale reconstruction, plus Python PyTorch proficiency and edge device deployment experience. To apply, tailor your CV to highlight relevant publications and projects, share links to code or demos, and show cross functional collaboration; ensure work authorization in the country of employment and intention to return to your degree program, as strong communication matters.
Reality Labs Research is pioneering the next generation of AR/VR devices and intelligent systems. Our mission is to create the foundational technologies that enable contextual AI for AR glasses, VR headsets, and embodied agents. We are advancing the state of the art in 3D perception, multimodal scene understanding, and efficient on-device intelligence.
We are seeking a highly self-motivated and hands-on PhD student to join our team as a Research Scientist Intern for Summer 2026, focusing on 3D scene understanding.
Our internships are twelve (12) to twenty-four (24) weeks long and we have various start dates throughout the year.
Responsibilities
Conduct research in 3D scene understanding, including but not limited to: Efficient and scalable 3D representation learning or reconstruction, Hierarchical / semantic scene graphs for large-scale environments, Open-vocabulary multimodal grounding (text, image, video, audio etc), Dynamic object tracking and temporal scene reasoning, and Edge-aware 3D scene understanding.
* Design and execute experiments on public datasets and/or internal data from AR/VR hardware.
* Collaborate with researchers, engineers, and interns across Reality Labs to advance the research frontier.
* Document findings and aim for submission to CVPR or equivalent top-tier conferences.
Qualifications
Currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Robotics, or a related field
* Research background in at least one of: 3D scene understanding, semantic mapping, SLAM, or neural representations, Multimodal learning (vision + language, vision + audio), Large-scale 3D reconstruction or scene graph generation
* Proven publication record in top-tier venues (CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, NeurIPS, ICLR, etc.)
* Programming skills in Python and PyTorch (or equivalent deep learning frameworks)
* Hands-on experience with 3D datasets, rendering, or AR/VR sensors
* Must obtain work authorization in country of employment at the time of hire, and maintain ongoing work authorization during employment Experience with hybrid 3D representations (e.g., Gaussian Splatting, NeRFs, octree/voxel methods)
* Familiarity with open-vocabulary or foundation models (CLIP, Segment-Anything, LLMs for vision-language reasoning)
* Knowledge of real-time or efficient deployment techniques (quantization, distillation, adaptive inference)
* Ability to integrate research code into practical prototypes on edge devices (Jetson, AR/VR headsets)
* Intent to return to degree-program after the completion of the internship/co-op
* Proven track record of achieving significant results as demonstrated by grants, fellowships, patents, as well as first-authored publications at leading workshops or conferences
* Experience working and communicating cross functionally in a team environment