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The Ethereum Foundation has initiated applications for the 2026 Internship Program: a compensated, full-time chance to collaborate directly with teams enhancing the Ethereum protocol and ecosystem.
Interns will integrate with EF teams for 12 weeks throughout the summer, engaging in ongoing R&D and ecosystem-focused projects across various areas of interest. The internship is accessible to candidates worldwide and can be undertaken remotely or from EF’s locations. A summer gathering will unite the cohort for in-person networking.
The Goal
Ethereum keeps progressing; every upgrade, research project, and trial relies on individuals ready to tackle intricate issues and assist in constructing what lies ahead. The internship has been crafted to provide emerging engineers and researchers a tangible route into that endeavor. Interns contribute to authentic projects under the mentorship of seasoned guides within Ethereum’s open, collaborative atmosphere.
Who Should Apply
The initiative is aimed at university students or recent alumni enthusiastic about Ethereum, open-source contributions, and decentralized technologies. High-potential candidates will possess some familiarity with Ethereum at a technical level and seek to enhance that knowledge through practical involvement. Applicants ought to be self-motivated and at ease delving into unfamiliar systems.
Application Process
Applications are currently open until December 1, 2025. Selected candidates will then be contacted for interviews over the subsequent two months, with final decisions disclosed by early February. The internship lasts approximately 12 weeks during the summer, with adaptable start and finish dates to align with academic calendars.
2026 Internship Roles
Various teams across the EF are on the lookout for interns. Each position is related to an EF team or initiative with active projects. Candidates should review the comprehensive listings on the EF job board for specifics regarding the scope, desired skills, and example responsibilities.
Cryptography Research
The EF cryptography research squad crafts and evaluates cryptographic primitives vital to Ethereum’s roadmap, advises protocol and client groups on security selections, and disseminates peer-reviewed findings that keep Ethereum at the forefront of cryptography research.
👉 Apply
DevOps
EthPandaOps assists in guaranteeing a thoroughly examined, coordinated, and secure fork on Ethereum. They attain these aims through personalized tools, deployment scripts, and data gathering pipelines. Furthermore, EthPandaOps strives to enable the community to adapt tools for their unique requirements, minimizing overall effort whilst ensuring basic standards.
👉 Apply
Funding Coordination
The Strategic Funding Coordination group aids EF grantees along with other crucial public goods initiatives in obtaining co-funding from ecosystem grants, governmental programs, philanthropic institutions, and chosen commercial partners.
👉 Apply
Geth (Go-Ethereum)
The Go-Ethereum squad develops Geth, an Ethereum execution-layer client crafted in Go. Within the EF, they engage in research and development pertaining to the Ethereum protocol. As primary developers, they influence the protocol and evaluate external contributions.
👉 Apply
P2P Networking
The P2P Networking group tackles a well-known constraint in Ethereum currently: the networking layer. They operate on two fronts: enhancing the existing stack to fulfill Ethereum’s short- and medium-term aspirations while applying radical, fundamental thinking to redesign the networking layer from inception for enduring scalability and expansion. They closely collaborate with client implementers, researchers, and libp2p maintainers throughout the ecosystem.
👉 Apply
Protocol Consensus
The Protocol Consensus team’s objective is to connect the discrepancies between the assurances provided by Ethereum’s consensus protocol presently and those needed to adequately uphold the network’s long-term principles and goals. To advance toward this aim, they concentrate on pursuits like protocol design, theoretical evaluation, specification drafting, academic involvement, and collaboration with the wider ecosystem to ensure that concepts can be implemented effectively.
👉 Apply
Protocol Prototyping
The Protocol Prototyping group develops comprehensive implementations of innovative concepts for Ethereum’s fundamental protocol. By transforming ideas into functional prototypes, the team investigates how prospective enhancements perform in reality, assisting the community in advancing beyond conjecture and hypothesis. Their efforts examine assumptions, quantify compromises, and reveal risks that may not be evident from research alone.
👉 Apply
Protocol Security
The Protocol Security Research group ensures the integrity of Ethereum. Through collaboration, thorough code evaluations, creating sophisticated tools, and practical simulations, the team concentrates on safeguarding the network and its essential components. Their active methodology includes overseeing the bug bounty program, perpetually surveilling the network, and partnering with client teams.
👉 Apply
Protocol Snarkification
The Protocol Snarkification is focused on optimizing the Ethereum protocol, in collaboration with the Cryptography and zkEVM teams. Specifically, the group emphasizes formal verification as applied to cryptographic protocols and their implementations.
👉 Apply
Protocol Specs & Testing
The Specifications and Testing for the Ethereum Execution Layer (STEEL) team mainly comprises two initiatives: Ethereum Execution Layer Specification (EELS) and Ethereum Execution Specification Tests (EEST).
- The EELS project is tasked with the primary Ethereum protocol reference specification crafted in Python, intended to substitute the yellow-paper specification and serve as a vital resource in the EIP process to offer a prototyping framework for new enhancements.
- The EEST project is designated for the Ethereum protocol reference tests, utilized by all clients to identify consensus errors during new hard-fork implementations and regressions.
The group also aids testing endeavors for the consensus-specs, manages the upkeep and enhancement of the tools, frameworks, documentation, and guidance necessary for supporting the client developers in conducting the tests.
👉 Apply
Robust Incentives Group
The Robust Incentives Group (RIG) is
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a study group committed to examining the Ethereum protocol through the perspective of mechanism design. Their research outlines all the manners in which incentives influence Ethereum participants, whether directly or indirectly. Whenever feasible, the group suggests mechanisms to realize incentive compatibility and system optimality.
👉 Apply
zkEVM
Introducing zkEVMs to the Ethereum layer 1 is a complex initiative. The zkEVM team’s endeavors are structured into three fundamental workstreams: real-time proving, client and protocol integration, along with economic incentives and security.
👉 Apply
A Path Into the Protocol Layer
The EF Internship Program provides an entry into protocol-level engagement. It presents a chance for substantial contribution while acquiring experience, mentorship, and understanding of how Ethereum is sustained and progressed.
If you’re eager to dedicate your summer to developing Ethereum, check out the available positions and submit your application now at:
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