Research Intern

Category Labs (formerly known as Monad Labs) is a team of systems engineers and researchers on a mission to design and build at the frontier of decentralized technology. We strive to deliver significant improvements over existing blockchain solutions. After raising $225M in Series A funding, led by Paradigm, we are growing our team.

We’re the team behind Monad, a high-performance, EVM-compatible Layer 1. We write the core software that runs it: a parallel-execution EVM, a custom state database, and a BFT consensus client, all developed in the open.

The Role

• We’re hiring Summer Research Interns to pursue advanced research in mechanism design, cryptoeconomics, distributed systems, programming languages, cryptography, and governance. This list isn’t exhaustive; if you bring a valuable and relevant perspective, we encourage you to apply.

• This internship offers a rare chance to work at the frontier of decentralized systems: advancing the underlying science and technology while delivering real impact at scale.

• Research projects will draw on the challenges of building a first-of-its-kind blockchain, as well as new directions that decentralized systems make possible. You’re also welcome to propose your own projects.

• You’ll learn from Category Labs’ researchers, engineers, and fellow interns, while contributing as an independent and equal peer.

• Depending on your availability and the needs of the project, the internship can be extended into part-time employment and may lead to future collaborations.

What You’ll Do

• Conduct novel, rigorous research on the topics above.

• Contribute to technical publications, including peer-reviewed papers, blog posts, and white papers.

• Partner with the engineering team to build prototypes, run simulations, and design experiments that test your models and assumptions.

• Engage with team members and visiting researchers to refine ideas and share insights from your own work.

Past interns have shipped real work (small sample):

• A Private RPC for Public Blockchains: Introduced write-public ORAM, a new primitive for reading blockchain state without revealing what you read, and built an open-source private RPC that keeps up with Monad’s throughput.

• Timing Games in Responsive Consensus Protocols: Modeled why validators delay block proposals, and designed dynamic block rewards that make proposing promptly the winning strategy.

• On the Geographic Incentives of Multiple Concurrent Proposers: Proved how proposers choose where to locate in multi-proposer systems, and when that leads to co-location versus geographic diversity.

Who You Are

• You’re currently enrolled in a PhD program in computer science, economics, mathematics, the social sciences, or a related field. Exceptional master’s and undergraduate students will also be considered.

• You’re passionate about decentralized systems and have enough foundational knowledge to hit the ground running.

• You communicate clearly and can explain complex ideas in simple terms, making research accessible to a broader audience.

• You have a clear research vision and the drive to pursue innovative ideas aligned with Category Labs’ mission.

• You’re collaborative, self-motivated, and adaptable, eager to tackle hard problems and pick up new concepts quickly in a fast-paced environment.

Why Work with Us

• Challenging problems: You’ll work on extremely challenging problems with massive impact. See our Blogs and Publications & Talks for a flavor of the problems we are solving in the real world.

• Huge opportunity: The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) standard is ubiquitous, but existing EVM-compatible chains are very slow. Monad’s core innovations offer developers the best of both worlds (portability and performance) and are a game-changer for mass user adoption in crypto.

• The right team: You’ll be part of a small, exceptional team (engineers and researchers make up 90% of the team).

• Open by default: Our core software is public on GitHub.

• Culture: We’re a lean team working together to achieve very ambitious goals. We are united in our culture of collaboration, low ego, and high-quality output. As an early member of our team, you’ll help to shape our culture.

• Compensation: You’ll receive competitive pay, plus housing support.

• Resources and growth: We’re well-capitalized, with backing from leading venture funds like Paradigm, Electric Capital, Greenoaks, Dragonfly, and Coinbase Ventures. We keep a lean team, and this is a rare opportunity to join. You’ll learn a lot and grow as our company scales.

How We Use AI

We’re an AI-native team, and we expect researchers to use AI and adapt to the technology as it evolves. A few things we believe:

• AI is leverage, not a crutch. You must stand behind the correctness and quality of your work (including writing and presentation) even if it was produced with the help of AI.

• As part of the research process, you must understand the output from AI before sharing it with your collaborators. Any output that you were not able to review must be marked as such.

Internship Details

• The internship runs roughly 12 weeks, between May 17 and August 30.

• Residency in New York City is strongly preferred but not required.

• The anticipated rate for this role is $4,500 per week, plus a $500 per week housing stipend or corporate housing. Pay may vary based on experience and scope.

Application and timeline

Please include, in addition to the application below:

• Resume/CV

• Letters of recommendation (1-2 letters, optional but recommended).

  • Recommenders should email their letters of support to [email protected] with the "[name of the applicant], Research Intern 2027" in the subject line.

• For full consideration, please submit applications by December 7, 2026.

Visa & Work Authorization

• We welcome international applicants and will consider visa and work authorization support on a case-by-case basis. Please note your current status and location in your application so we can discuss options early.