Research Associate — Indian Language NLP

About this AI Research Associate role at IIIT Hyderabad

IIIT Hyderabad's Language Technologies Research Centre (LTRC) is hiring Research Associates to work on cutting-edge NLP projects for Indian languages — a critical area as AI adoption spreads across India's linguistic diversity. This is a junior-level, contract-based research role perfect for candidates eager to contribute to groundbreaking work in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Kannada, and Malayalam NLP. Based in Hyderabad, you'll work alongside experienced researchers in a government-academic setting that values both innovation and publication.

What you'll do

• Develop and fine-tune NLP models for Indian languages using Python and Hugging Face Transformers
• Design and execute experiments on Indian language datasets, focusing on tasks like machine translation, sentiment analysis, or named entity recognition
• Contribute to research publications documenting your findings in peer-reviewed venues
• Implement state-of-the-art transformer-based architectures adapted for Indic language characteristics
• Collaborate with the LTRC team to integrate language-specific preprocessing and evaluation pipelines

Who should apply

You'll need an M.Tech, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Linguistics, AI, or a related field. This role is aimed at junior researchers and freshers with strong fundamentals in Python and deep learning. Critically, you must have hands-on experience with at least one Indian language (proficiency in reading/writing Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Kannada, or Malayalam helps, but coding experience with these languages in NLP is what matters most). A publication record — even from coursework or internships — is valued highly.

Salary & offer in context

IIIT Hyderabad offers ₹55,000–₹75,000 per month based on qualifications, on a 2-year project contract. For an AI Research Associate role at junior level in Hyderabad, this is competitive within government-research institutions; private-sector AI engineer salaries in India for similar roles often range higher (₹70,000–₹120,000+), but LTRC roles come with research credibility, publication opportunities, and a stable academic environment.

Path to apply

This is a direct application role — no entrance exam required. You'll submit your CV, research interests, and a brief statement directly to IIIT Hyderabad's careers portal, followed by an interview and research presentation. The application deadline is 2 June 2026, so act soon. Direct apply positions at government research institutions like IIIT are highly sought; getting your application in early increases your visibility.