On November 12, 2026, Quantum Careers listed 71 quantum internships and five roles open to new graduates. For a student or recent graduate, the internship is one important way into a quantum company. Fifty-two of those internship listings already mention 2027, so the application season for next year has begun.
Thirteen employers posted the 71 internships. Quandela listed 20, Alice & Bob 17, Quantinuum 12, QuEra Computing 8, and PsiQuantum 4. Riverlane and NVIDIA listed two each. Pasqal, C12 Quantum Electronics, Sygaldry Technologies, Monarch Quantum, Infleqtion, and Quantum Motion listed one each. The 71 include two general internship-inquiry postings, from QuEra and Quantinuum, that do not describe a specific project.
Four kinds of quantum internship
End-of-studies internships in Europe
Most of the European listings are long internships for master’s students, usually completed in the final year of an engineering or science degree. Eighteen listings on the board specify six months. Quandela listed 20 in Massy and Palaiseau, south of Paris, most of them for the first half of 2027, in photonic circuits, single-photon sources, fault tolerance, algorithms, and business functions. Alice & Bob listed 17: most in and around Paris, plus two business development internships in Boston. They cover experimental physics, nanofabrication, quantum compilation, simulation, RF systems, business development, export control, and science communication.
In France, an internship longer than two months must pay a minimum stipend, called a gratification. The law sets the legal minimum at 15% of the social security hourly ceiling, and employers can pay more.
US summer internships
In the US, most internships run over the summer. Quantinuum posted hourly rates for 11 US internships, from US$22 to US$55 an hour. Photonic integrated circuit and metasurface optical design internships paid US$41 to US$55, and internships in HR, IT, and support services US$22 to US$31. NVIDIA posted US$38 to US$94 an hour for a PhD research internship in quantum simulation and AI in Santa Clara. Monarch Quantum’s summer 2027 internship program posted US$23 to US$45 an hour. Infleqtion lists a summer 2027 quantum software internship in Chicago. PsiQuantum listed an optical packaging internship in Milpitas and a remote quantum algorithms and compilation internship. Its quantum applications and system architecture internships are based in Australia and the UK.
Co-ops
QuEra Computing in Boston lists co-op positions, including an Optical Engineer Co-Op and a QPU Build Co-Op in optics and data analysis. A co-op is a full-time placement that a university builds into the degree, typically lasting several months. Students at universities with co-op programs can apply through them.
PhD internships and industrial PhDs
Several employers recruit doctoral students. NVIDIA lists PhD research internships in quantum simulation and in quantum chemistry. Riverlane listed PhD engineering and research internships for 2027 in Boston, although their November 6 application deadline had passed by the snapshot date. Alice & Bob lists a PhD position on error correction codes for cat qubits. IQM Quantum Computers lists a Junior Quantum Engineer role for a PhD candidate in Munich. In France, the CIFRE scheme subsidizes companies that employ a doctoral student while the student completes a PhD with a university laboratory. The student finishes with a doctorate and three years of industry experience.
National laboratory programs
US national laboratories run their own internship programs, separate from company listings. The Department of Energy’s Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships (SULI) program places students at DOE laboratories, several of which run quantum research. Applications for summer 2027 opened on October 14, 2026 and close at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on January 6, 2027. SULI has eligibility requirements on citizenship and enrollment, which applicants should check on the program’s website.
What employers ask for
Most of the internship listings mention a master’s degree, often as the level of study the applicant should be in, and a smaller share mention a PhD or a bachelor’s degree. A mention can be a requirement, a preference, or a description of the team, so these are rough indications. The technical internships look for the same skills as the full-time roles they feed: Python and scientific computing for simulation and compilation, lab experience for experimental physics and optics, and cleanroom work for nanofabrication.
Non-technical internships are a smaller share but exist at most of the larger employers. On the snapshot date they included HR, IT, business development, strategy and corporate development, R&D partnerships and funded projects, export control, and science communication. A student in law, business, or communications can start a quantum career through one of them.
How to get one
Apply early. For a summer or autumn 2027 start, the listings are open now. In France and some other European markets, end-of-studies internships often start early in the year. Employers fill them months ahead.
Pick a project, not a company. Internship listings describe a specific project: simulating cat qubits, building a test automation script, characterizing a photonic circuit. Apply for the projects you can discuss in an interview. Say why the project interests you.
Show work. A course project, a thesis chapter, or open-source code related to the internship tells an interviewer more than a list of courses. For software and theory internships, a public repository is the simplest evidence.
Check the practical terms. Some listings mention a stipend or housing, although a mention does not always mean support is offered. Ask about the stipend, housing, and relocation before accepting. For a US internship, ask whether the employer sponsors the student work authorization you need. Our guide to visas, relocation, and security clearances covers work authorization for international candidates.
Current internships are listed on the Quantum Careers job board. Our guide to quantum careers without a PhD covers the full-time roles that bachelor’s and master’s graduates move into after an internship, and our guide to quantum interviews covers what to expect when you are invited to one.
