Bluestaq Graduate Research Scholar — NDSU Partnership
Bluestaq US External
| Company | Bluestaq US External |
| Category | Science & Research |
| Location | Colorado Springs |
| Remote | On-site (inferred) |
| Employment | Not stated |
| Level | Intern |
| Salary | Not stated by the employer |
| Posted | 23 Jul 2026 |
| Last verified | 10 Aug 2026 |
| Source | Employer ATS (greenhouse) |
Description
Bluestaq Graduate Research Scholar — NDSU Partnership
Full-Ride M.S./Ph.D. Sponsorship + Paid Summer Internship (Colorado Springs, CO)
Bluestaq — a Colorado Springs leader in secure data ecosystems, graph technologies, natural language processing, and AI solutions for national security and defense customers, including the U.S. Space Force — is launching a full-ride graduate research sponsorship in partnership with North Dakota State University (NDSU). We are seeking motivated NDSU graduate students to conduct Bluestaq-defined research beginning Fall 2026, culminating in a paid summer internship at Bluestaq headquarters.
Why This Program Matters
This sponsorship connects academic research directly to national-security mission impact. As a Bluestaq Graduate Research Scholar, your work will:
Advance real capabilities in LLMs, knowledge graphs, NLP, and agentic AI used by defense and national-security customers.
Build a direct pipeline from sponsored academic research into hands-on delivery at Bluestaq.
Position you as part of a select, founding cohort of scholars at the leading edge of applied AI research.
What You'll Do
Fall 2026 Research Project
Conduct Bluestaq-defined research in one or more of the following focus areas: Large Language Models, Data Sourcing & Tagging, Knowledge Graph / Graph Store, Agentic AI, Natural Language Processing, and Prompt Engineering.
Work independently and with NDSU faculty advisors, with research direction and technical alignment provided by Bluestaq.
Bring genuine intellectual curiosity — while projects are Bluestaq-defined, student interest and alignment are valued in shaping the work.
Summer 2027 Internship — Bluestaq HQ, Colorado Springs, CO
Complete a paid summer internship as a direct continuation of your sponsored research, delivering immediate mission impact.
Receive hands-on mentorship and real-world application experience in a fast-paced defense-tech environment.
Program Benefits
Full tuition, fees, stipend, and health insurance — funded for the complete duration of your M.S. or Ph.D. degree.
Summer internship compensation:
MS students: $28–35/hr ($1,120–$1,400/week at 40 hrs)
PhD students: $34–42/hr ($1,360–$1,680/week at 40 hrs)
Qualifications and Requirements
Currently enrolled, or incoming, M.S. or Ph.D. student at North Dakota State University.
Target disciplines: Computer Science; Electrical & Computer Engineering; Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; Software & Security Engineering (other aligned fields considered).
Strong academic record and genuine interest in applying AI/data to national-security challenges.
Selected through a joint Bluestaq/NDSU review process; a Bluestaq technical representative serves on the selection committee alongside NDSU faculty.
Education
Enrollment in (or admission to) an M.S. or Ph.D. program at NDSU in a qualifying discipline is required.
Clearance Requirement
U.S. citizenship is required, and candidates must be eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance. Supervising faculty must also meet citizenship and clearance requirements, as sponsored work involves Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and pre-existing Bluestaq intellectual property.
Location
Academic-year research is based at NDSU (Fargo, ND); mandatory summer internship placement is on-site at Bluestaq HQ, Colorado Springs, CO.
Program Timeline
Fall 2026: Research project begins.
Summer 2027: Paid internship at Bluestaq HQ.
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