MBZUAI Hosts Its Largest-Ever Undergraduate AI Research Internship Cohort

Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) in Abu Dhabi has welcomed 45 international STEM students for a month-long undergraduate internship. The second edition of the Undergraduate Research Internship Programme (UGRIP) involved a rigorous selection process. This four-week program aims to develop foundational AI knowledge and hands-on research skills among top undergraduate students.

The university received applications from various countries, including the UAE, the US, Canada, Australia, Colombia, Vietnam, India, Egypt, the Republic of Korea, and Kazakhstan. Many participants come from prestigious institutions like IIT Madras, Harvard University, Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Vietnam National University HCM City, and Australian National University.

Professor Timothy Baldwin, MBZUAI’s Provost, highlighted the program's growth. "A core part of MBZUAI’s mission is to identify and nurture the next generation of innovators and leaders in AI," he said. He noted that UGRIP's 32% growth in its second year signifies the university's rising global prominence and the appeal of studying in the UAE.

Interns had unique opportunities to work with world-leading faculty on real-world AI research problems. These projects have global impacts in areas such as health and bioinformatics, robotics, and detecting machine-generated text using large language models.

The interns selected AI research projects based on their interests and career goals. Projects included developing a metaverse prototype for digital healthcare and enhancing baby cry analysis models' accuracy using AI. Another project focused on evaluating large language models' generalizability across languages and tasks.

Ben Lambright from Brandeis University shared his experience: "I applied because I wanted to study Arabic and artificial intelligence," he said. "My focus was to learn more about multimodal models for Arabic and English. This was an interesting opportunity for me to study with researchers from around the world and to collaborate with them."

Engaging Activities Beyond Research

In addition to their research work, interns participated in a brain tumor segmentation challenge using computer vision techniques to detect tumors in medical images. They also engaged in an industry panel discussion about the UAE’s AI sector and job market.

To enrich their experience further, UGRIP interns explored UAE’s rich history and culture through cultural trips organized by Abu Dhabi Residents Office and the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi. They visited landmarks such as Qasr Al Hosn, Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque, and Abrahamic Family House.

MBZUAI continues to attract top talent globally while providing valuable learning experiences that combine cutting-edge research with cultural immersion. The success of UGRIP reflects both the university's commitment to advancing AI education and its role in fostering international collaboration among future leaders in technology.

With inputs from WAM