Astronomical Software Engineering Internship - Application Deadline

Are you an incoming junior or senior? Interested in software engineering focused on astrophysics?

The Astronomical Software Engineering Internship is seeking students for the 2025-2026 academic year.

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is an international collaboration combining many radio telescopes worldwide to observe black holes at event-horizon resolution. Following its historic achievement of capturing the first-ever images of black holes, the EHT is advancing to its next phase: producing "color movies"---multi-frequency observations over multiple black hole dynamic timescales. The scale and complexity of EHT observations require advanced software solutions for efficient data processing, calibration, and imaging. This internship offers a rare intersection of astrophysics, software engineering, and AI-driven automation. Interns will contribute to the automation and optimization of the Event Horizon Telescope's data pipelines, directly impacting the next generation of black hole science. Candidates with a passion for scientific discovery and computational innovation are encouraged to apply.

Intern Responsibilities

  • Develop and enhance data processing, calibration, and imaging algorithms.
  • Implement automation strategies to improve the efficiency of large-scale data analysis.
  • Utilize AI-assisted tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT) to improve code quality and documentation.
  • Optimize cloud-based workflows using Kubernetes and distributed computing.
  • Collaborate with experts in radio astronomy and Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI).

What are the benefits?

  • Pay is for up to 10 hours per week at $22.50 per hour.
  • Learn and apply software engineering best practices in real science projects.
  • Hands-on experience with high-performance computing, AI-driven development, and cloud infrastructure.
  • Collaboration with leading scientists and engineers in the field of black hole research.
  • Opportunity to contribute to pioneering advancements in observational astrophysics

Who is eligible? 

  • Must be entering your 3rd/junior year or 4th/senior year, as determined by credits, for the 2025-26 school year.
  • Must be enrolled in both fall and spring of the 2025-2026 academic school year.
  • International students are eligible to apply.
  • Preference for a UArizona student majoring or minoring in astronomy.

Need help with your application? The Undergraduate Research Ambassador team is here to support you on every step of your research journey! Please reach out to the Undergraduate Research Ambassadors by sending your inquiries to their email at undergradresearch@arizona.edu(link sends e-mail)(link sends e-mail) or scheduling a 1:1 appointment with them.

Ready to submit? Submit here. The application deadline is May 25th, 11:59 PM AZ Time.

Questions? Please email your inquiries to timestep@arizona.edu

When

May 25, 2025 (All day)