Internship - 2026 PhD Research & Development Intern

Job Description:

Internship - 2026 PhD Research & Development Intern

The role of PhD Research & Development Intern is intended to start in Summer 2026.

Collaborate with Innovative 3Mers Around the World

Choosing where to start and grow your career has a major impact on your professional and personal life, so it’s equally important you know that the company that you choose to work at, and its leaders, will support and guide you. With a wide variety of people, global locations, technologies and products, 3M is a place where you can collaborate with other curious, creative 3Mers.

An internship is a temporary position within 3M. Interns typically work a full-time schedule throughout a 10-12 week assignment. This position is limited to working 899 hours per service credit year. 3M provides eligible interns with a housing and transportation stipend in accordance with current policy.

This position provides an opportunity to transition from other private, public, government or military experience to a 3M career.

Applications on this requisition are reviewed and filled on a rolling basis; it is in a candidate’s best interest to apply as soon as possible. Interested candidates should include a resume as part of their application.

The Impact You’ll Make in this Role

As a PhD Research & Development Intern, you will have the opportunity to tap into your curiosity and collaborate with some of the most innovative people around the world. Here, you will make an impact by:

• Leveraging expertise to support the development of new technologies, providing growth opportunities, in addition to supporting existing 3M products, businesses, and operations.

• Building your technical, communication, and leadership skills.

• Collaborating with other R&D functions across 3M that can help advance projects, including researchers from other groups, analytical chemists, process engineers, etc.

• Collaborating with senior researchers on an assigned product/technology development or an application/product engineering project.

• Leading and directing assigned projects towards advanced technical solutions.

• Documenting detailed experimental records in 3M electronic laboratory notebooks that can be used for invention submissions and potentially patent applications.

• Analyzing, interpreting, and communicating experimental results.

R&D internships are available for both digital science and laboratory-based roles in the following areas:

• Corporate technology: Researchers working in one of our corporate R&D laboratories are concerned with the materials, processes, and/or analytical tools that go into the development of new technologies/methods and the generation of intellectual property, including patents. Projects in corporate technology may involve formulation science, synthetic chemistry, process design/control, materials characterization, development of new analytical techniques, materials scale-up, etc.

• Product engineering and development: interns working as product engineers or developers will collaborate with other researchers in our business and corporate research laboratories to address challenges in existing products and/or develop new products. Projects in the product engineering and development space may involve formulation science, process design/control, materials characterization, voice of customers, etc.

• Digital science and engineering: interns working in this area will use and/or develop digital science tools to address research challenges in the corporate research and business labs. Projects in the digital science and engineering space may involve: optimizing algorithms for computational efficiency, speed, and usability; building capabilities with software tools e.g., Microsoft Azure ML and/or AWS ML, Python; implementing complex data engineering processes to support innovative data science solutions; leveraging key ML or AI solutions toward materials and engineering problems; developing innovative models and simulations of complex chemical and physical processes.

Your Skills and Expertise

To set you up for success in this role from day one, 3M is looking for candidates who must have the following qualifications:

• Currently pursuing a PhD degree in science or engineering from an accredited institution.

Additional qualifications that could help you succeed even further in this role include:

• Currently pursuing a PhD degree in fields such as Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Data Science, Software Engineering, Chemistry, Polymer Science, Biomolecular Engineering, or related disciplines from an accredited institution.

• Experience in machine learning, deep learning, data science, computer vision, artificial intelligence, statistics, software engineering, and/or applied mathematics.

• Strong scientific and technical acumen, with demonstrated interest and ability to make connections between science/technology and real-world concerns.

• Strong problem-solving skills.

• Ability to deal with the ambiguity of early-stage scouting and evaluation of new opportunities, and the flexibility to change direction as additional information becomes available.

• Leadership and networking skills.

• Self-motivated and self-directed.

• Excellent communication skills (oral, written, and presentation).

• Completed a minimum of Freshman Year (2 semesters) by the start of the internship.

• 6-12 months of practical laboratory experience in the synthesis of polymers and small molecules, chemical/polymer processing, advanced analytical and materials characterization, vapor coating, nanotechnology, development of sensors, and optical materials.

• Hands-on experience in areas such as additive manufacturing, robotics, mechanical design, and/or hard goods.

• Experience with Microsoft Azure ML and/or AWS ML.

• Fluent in one or more programming languages (e.g., Python, MATLAB, C, C++, and/or R).

• Ability to apply object-oriented design and/or design patterns to software development.

• Fluent in understanding, manipulating, cleansing, and visualizing complex data.

• Experience working with complex, distributed Big Data workflows.

• Previous relevant intern experience or co-op with a company or university.

• Use of designed experiments and statistical analysis of experimental results.

• Demonstrated scientific excellence as evidenced by publications and presentations.

Work location:

• Work location: This role follows an on-site working model, requiring the employee to work at least four days a week at the 3M Center in Maplewood, MN or Austin, TX.

• Relocation: 3M provides eligible interns with a housing and transportation stipend in accordance with current policy.

Must be legally authorized to work in country of employment without sponsorship for employment visa status (e.g., H1B status).

Responsibilities of this position may include direct and/or indirect physical or logical access to information, systems, technologies subjected to the regulations/compliance with U.S. Export Control Laws.

U.S. Export Control laws and U.S. Government Department of Defense contracts and sub-contracts impose certain restrictions on companies and their ability to share export-controlled and other technology and services with certain "non-U.S. persons" (persons who are not U.S. citizens or nationals, lawful permanent residents of the U.S., refugees, "Temporary Residents" (granted Amnesty or Special Agricultural Worker provisions), or persons granted asylum.

To comply with these laws, 3M must help assess candidates' U.S. person status.

The questions asked in this application are intended to assess this and will be used for evaluation purposes only. Failure to provide the necessary information in this regard will result in our inability to consider you further for this particular position.

Supporting Your Well-being

3M offers many programs to help you live your best life – both physically and financially. To ensure competitive pay and benefits, 3M regularly benchmarks with other companies that are comparable in size and scope.

Chat with Max

For assistance with searching through our current job openings or for more information about all things 3M, visit Max, our virtual recruiting assistant on 3M.com/careers.

Resources for You

For more details on what happens before, during and after the interview process, check out 3M.com/careers

All US-based 3M full time employees will need to sign an employee agreement as a condition of employment with 3M. This agreement lays out key terms on using 3M Confidential Information and Trade Secrets. It also has provisions discussing conflicts of interest and how inventions are assigned. Employees that are Job Grade 7 or equivalent and above may also have obligations to not compete against 3M or solicit its employees or customers, both during their employment, and for a period after they leave 3M.

Learn more about 3M’s creative solutions to the world’s problems at www.3M.com or on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn @3M.

Responsibilities of this position include that corporate policies, procedures and security standards are complied with while performing assigned duties.

Safety is a core value at 3M. All employees are expected to contribute to a strong Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) culture by following safety policies, identifying hazards, and engaging in continuous improvement.

Pay & Benefits Overview: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/careers-us/working-at-3m/benefits/

3M does not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Please note: your application may not be considered if you do not provide your education and work history, either by: 1) uploading a resume, or 2) entering the information into the application fields directly.

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