Apply to the DSSI

The DSSI is a 12-week program. We run two summer sessions, which in 2022 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.

*The DSSI program is a 12-week full-time commitment. 

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

If the program is virtual, you will be required to provide your own computer and internet access. You’ll need to be physically located in the U.S. able to join WebEx meetings and connect to Lab resources via VPN and AWS.

If the program is in person, you will be provisioned with a Lab computer and need to live in/near Livermore and find reliable transportation to work onsite for the duration of your internship.

As of November 2021, when the 2022 job postings became available, we don’t yet know whether the summer program will be held in a virtual, in-person, or hybrid format.

• If the program is virtual, you will be required to provide your own computer and internet access. You’ll need to be physically located in the U.S. and able to join WebEx meetings and connect to Lab resources via VPN and AWS.

• If the program is in person, you will need live in/near Livermore and find reliable transportation to work onsite for the duration of your internship.

• If the program is hybrid, we will contact you in advance to discuss your situation and determine the appropriate path for your internship.

We will contact applicants as soon as the format is decided and confirmed. The LLNL Students website has more information about background checks, drug screening, onboarding tasks, transportation, and housing.

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.