IAE Data Science Internship - Fall 2026

IMPORTANT ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

• This internship supports U.S. Department of Defense-funded programs. Applicants must be U.S. citizens and eligible to obtain a security clearance. Applicants who do not meet this requirement cannot be considered for this position.
• Applicants must remain actively enrolled in an undergraduate degree program for the duration of the internship. Individuals who have already graduated prior to the internship start date are not eligible for this position.

Please Note: Authorization to work in the United States (including F-1 OPT/CPT, H-1B, or other employment authorization) does not satisfy this requirement. Applicants must be U.S. citizens to be eligible for this internship. Applicants who do not meet these eligibility requirements cannot be considered for this internship.

Organization Summary

The University of South Florida (USF) Institute of Applied Engineering (IAE) provides agile, best-value engineering solutions to enhance the performance and effectiveness of its sponsors, including the Department of Defense, other federal, state, and local agencies, and industry partners.

The Data Science Intern will work under the direction of Accenture Federal Services (AFS) technical leadership to support specialized programs. This internship offers an opportunity to work on meaningful data science and program management initiatives supporting broader Department of Defense (DoD) efforts. The intern will contribute to research, analysis, and the development of tools that enhance operational decision-making and resource allocation.

The internship program is administered by USF Institute of Applied Engineering. Upon hire, you will be considered both a USF IAE Temporary Employee and an AFS student intern.

Because this internship is partially funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and may involve access to Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), U.S. citizenship is required for eligibility.

Time Commitment

• Hours of operation are 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday
• Fall & Spring Semester: 15–20 hours per week.
• Summer Semester: 20-29 hours per week.
• Internship is primarily in-person (Tampa, FL) with limited remote work opportunities.

Opportunities

• Work directly alongside AFS engineers and data scientists.
• Gain hands-on experience with emerging AI and machine learning technologies.
• Build a professional portfolio of data science and software development projects.
• High potential for internship extensions and full-time employment opportunities following graduation.

Pay Rate 

• $17.62/hour

Responsibilities

• Support the design, development, and testing of AI-enabled applications utilizing Large Language Models (LLMs).
• Assist in building and maintaining Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines.
• Develop data engineering workflows to collect, clean, transform, and organize structured and unstructured datasets.
•  Support integration of AI and machine learning capabilities into cloud-based environments.
• Collaborate with software engineers and data scientists to evaluate model performance.
• Assist with prompt engineering, model evaluation, and experimentation activities.
• Document technical findings, system architectures, and development processes.
• Contribute to project briefings, demonstrations, and technical presentations.

Qualifications

• Must be a U.S. citizen.
• Must be eligible to obtain a U.S. security clearance due to Department of Defense program requirements.
• Must be actively pursuing a bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related technical discipline.
• Senior standing strongly preferred.
• Minimum GPA of 3.0
• Ability to report in-person 2-3x/week (Tampa, FL)
• Familiarity with machine learning concepts and data science workflows.
• Exposure to Large Language Models (LLMs), generative AI tools, or NLP concepts.