Apply to the DSSI

The DSSI is a 12-week program. We run two summer sessions, which in 2021 will be:

• Session 1: 12-weeks / May through August
• Session 2: 12-weeks / June through September

Applicants can select the session that works best for them. Seminar series and lectures will be held for 8 weeks—when the sessions overlap—so all students have the same educational opportunity.

Yes! The pay is very competitive with industry and is generally more than an academic internship. We use an academic step structure to determine a student’s appropriate salary. When we are able to return onsite at the Lab, DSSI interns will be reimbursed for moving expenses.

We select approximately 30 students each year in this competitive program.

To be considered for the DSSI program, you should have the following qualifications:

• Actively pursuing a degree in applied mathematics, computer science, computer vision, machine learning, statistics, or a similar field
• Desire to understand and explore why certain algorithms are well-suited to specific applications
• Desire to participate in individual or team efforts including the LLNL DSSI Challenge Problems
• Desire to improve skills in public presentation of scientific results by giving presentations and participating in the LLNL student poster competition
• Eagerness to obtain an understanding of new application areas
• Effective programming skills in a high-level language such as R, Matlab, or Python
• Distributed/parallel computing and experience with C/C++; Java a plus
• Exposure through coursework to some of the following topics:
  • Statistical modeling and data analysis
  • Bayesian and frequentist statistical frameworks
  • Inverse problems, uncertainty quantification
  • Machine learning / pattern recognition
  • Computer vision
  • Multimedia signal and video recognition
  • Combinatorics and algorithms
  • Graph modeling and social network analysis
  • Modeling and Simulation

Students will not be working onsite at LLNL while the program is virtual, so you will need to provide your own computer and internet access. You'll need to be able to join WebEx meetings and connect to Lab resources via VPN and AWS.

Students will not be working onsite at LLNL while the program is virtual, so you don't need to live in Livermore or even the Bay Area. However, you do need to be physically located in the U.S. for the screening period before the program begins as well as throughout the entire internship. The LLNL Students website has more information about background checks, drug screening, and other onboarding tasks.

Please note that we cannot provide relocation, housing, or visa assistance while the program is conducted virtually.

Mentors are LLNL staff scientists who have put forth a research project for the DSSI program. A mentor has the responsibility to define a project that will be significant yet manageable over the course of the internship; some of these projects are designed to lead to follow-on work for students who would like to return in subsequent years. In a typical working arrangement, a student may expect to meet with their mentor daily or a couple of times per week depending on the research plan. However, you should never hesitate to get in touch with your mentor if you have a question. Your mentor would prefer to help you solve a difficult technical problem instead of watch you struggle.

If you plan to continue your undergraduate degree after the summer program ends, apply to the undergraduate job posting.

If you plan to complete your undergraduate degree before the summer program begins, apply to the graduate job posting—even if you are not enrolled in a graduate program in the fall.

If you plan to continue your graduate degree after the summer program ends, apply to the graduate job posting.

You will be contacted by a mentor and the DSSI program administrator to begin the hiring process.

The links above to specific job postings will take you to LLNL's Careers website, which recently launched on a new platform. If the links or Apply button aren't working, or if the submission functionality doesn't work, we recommend that you try again in another browser or on another day. If you continue to experience issues while submitting your application, please let us know at dssi-info [at] llnl.gov. We will pass along any tech support issues for resolution as quickly as possible.

Send your questions to dssi-info [at] llnl.gov. You can also visit the LLNL Students website for more information on the Lab's scholar programs.