AMD Research

About AMD Research

AMD Research is the advanced research and development organization for AMD. We are chartered to explore technologies beyond the company’s formal product roadmap by researching new hardware and software, tracking the development of emerging technology trends, and interacting with internal and external partners, customers, and the broader ecosystem to help guide AMD into the future. We are always looking for the best talent in the industry. If you have it what it takes, please read on and check out the latest positions and opportunities.

What We Do

AMD Research is firmly aligned with the business goals of the overall corporation. Our research objective is to have real, positive, and profitable impact on the business. We are a research organization, but we are also a very entrepreneurially-minded group. Whether it’s tackling a thorny technical problem or finding ways to achieve successful technology transfer, the AMD Research team prides itself on creativity, questioning the status quo, and ultimately taking both the initiative and the responsibility to get things done.

As a research organization, a lot of the work we do is very forward looking and speculative. As is the nature of strong research programs, not all ideas will pan out. This is not only tolerated, but in fact it is expected as otherwise it would indicate that we are not being sufficiently aggressive in setting out our research agenda for the company. Our key research themes focus on critical areas of importance to the company, but our incredibly broad team actively pursues research in many additional directions. Our researchers are encouraged to explore new topics and continually grow their own technical capabilities to increase their career potential.

There is no single formula for success at AMD Research, and many people take very different paths on their journey with the lab. A common research activity is the writing of technical papers. While some may already be familiar with peer-reviewed scientific conference and journal papers, AMD Research also authors strategic internal white papers that have direct impact and influence on AMD’s global technical leadership and executives. The lab also generates a substantial volume of patents that help grow AMD’s strategic IP portfolio. As technology does not exist in a vacuum, many teams at AMD Research work directly with customers, partners, and universities to advance our research objectives.

At the end of the day, the central pillar of what AMD Research does is Technology Transfer (Tech Transfer). An easy example of Tech Transfer is the direct implementation of some research idea or mechanism in an AMD product, but Tech Transfer is much broader and richer than just this one avenue. As one example, our lab spearheaded early engagements with the U.S. Department of Energy’s exascale research programs, which enabled us to provide critical and strategic guidance for the company’s overall HPC directions. While this had its origins in speculative research explorations, our lab’s work here (with tight partnership and collaboration with our product teams) has culminated in real and significant roadmap and business outcomes.

On a day-by-day basis, what we do is similar to what one would expect from most research labs in our industry: we design and run experiments, we analyze data, we read and discuss the latest research papers, we brainstorm new ideas within the lab and with our collaborators, we drink a cup of coffee (or five), we give technical talks (internal and external), and we try to find the “next thing” (or things) that enables AMD to do something radically new, differentiating, and of significant value to our customers. We work hard, we have fun doing it, and we hope that you’ll want to join our team!

Who We Are

The AMD Research team represents a diverse range of backgrounds with different paths leading to their respective careers with the lab. We hire the brightest new researchers who have just completed their advanced degrees. We have industry veterans with no formal research degrees or training, but they bring the deep insights that are only earned through years or decades working on real products. We have former university faculty that provide a balance of academic perspectives with the technical and business objectives of the company. We also proudly host a cadre of non-permanent contributors, including interns, postdocs, and visiting faculty. Our staff is exceptionally credentialed with recognitions including senior and fellow statuses in the IEEE and ACM, prestigious awards such as the ACM Maurice Wilkes Award, membership in various conference publication Halls of Fame, and more.

We are also highly involved with and invested in the broader academic research community. We hire interns and postdocs, and often continue tight and productive collaborations with their respective universities even after their time with us concludes. It is not uncommon for an intern’s AMD Research mentor to eventually serve on their dissertation defense/reading committee. AMD Research members regularly serve on the technical program committees and external review committees of conferences in our target fields. We also often serve in a variety of conference organizational roles as members of organizing committees up through donating significant time and resources as general chairs of entire conferences. In addition to the time spent, AMD has also proudly been a financial sponsor of many academic conferences over the years. If continued engagement with the broader research community is important to you, AMD Research offers opportunities to be involved.

Full-time Positions

AMD Research is always on the lookout for the best and brightest research talent. As discussed above under “Who We Are”, there is no single profile for a successful researcher at the lab. We value having a broad set of perspectives, ideas, and backgrounds to ensure that we are always maximizing our creativity and minimizing the risk of technical group-think and echo chambers. Correspondingly, we look for new team members across a wide range of experience and seniority. Please check back often on our listing of full-time openings to the see the latest opportunities.

Internships, Postdocs, and Visiting Faculty

AMD Research regularly hires a variety of “visiting” researchers to work with us and contribute to key research problems. From interns to visiting faculty, all of our staff are engaged in interesting technical problems with real-world importance and potential for impact. At any given time, the exact problems and opportunities may vary depending on specific project needs and objectives, but there are always a wide variety of technical research challenges to tackle.

AMD Research interns are paired with an AMD Research mentor who works closely with the intern to define the project, brainstorm solutions, build relationships with other researchers and key product team architects and engineers, and drive the work to a productive conclusion. Our interns have been highly successful in generating publications based on their work, and many have also successfully filed patents based on their innovations. AMD Research hires interns year-round aligned to three “terms”: spring, summer, and fall. The internships (also historically referred to as “coops” within AMD) are typically aligned to a student’s home institution’s academic calendar to maximize flexibility for the students. For highly-successful interns, the engagements may sometimes be extended to two consecutive terms (such opportunities vary by project, scheduling, home-university rules/requirements, etc.).

Post-doctoral researchers have also been a great point of interaction and collaboration with the broader research community. Having completed their PhDs, postdocs are expected to be more autonomous in their work at AMD Research. They are similarly engaged with interesting projects of direct importance to the lab, but given the longer duration (compared to an internship) they are able to get more deeply involved and drive the research work further along the path toward successful technology transfer and impact. Some of our postdocs enjoy working at AMD Research so much that they decide to stay on and take a full-time position. Others have career ambitions for pursuing academic faculty positions, and we also strongly support this. We feel that having university researchers who have spent time with us will craft research agendas that have greater industrial relevance, which greatly improves the quality of their research, the strength of the students that they train, and their long-term ability to guide and influence the broader technical community.

AMD Research also regularly hosts university professors with a range of engagement models. Some have spent their sabbaticals with us where they can get engaged in and contribute to important problems for AMD. Faculty who have spent time with us often describe the experience as energizing and helps them to identify new directions for their next stage of academic research. As the engagements for academic faculty vary greatly across institutions and specific situations, these are typically handled on a case-by-case basis to ensure a productive and valuable experience for all.