Research Intern, Summer 2026

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 design and build step-function improvements over existing blockchain solutions. After raising $225M in series A funding led by Paradigm we are growing our team.

The Role

We are seeking Summer Research Interns to join our team and engage in advanced research in the fields of mechanism design cryptoeconomics distributed systems programming languages cryptography and governance . This list is not exhaustive; if you have valuable and relevant perspectives we encourage you to apply.

This internship provides a unique opportunity to gain perspective of cutting edge technology to advance the science and technology of decentralized systems and deliver impact at a large scale in industry.

Research projects will be inspired by the challenges of building a first-of-its-kind blockchain and exploring new research directions unlocked by decentralized systems. You will have the opportunity to propose your own research projects.

While you will learn from Category Labs researchers engineers and other interns you will also collaborate as an independent and equal peer.

The research internship can be extended to part-time employment as per your availability and the needs of the research project and may foster future collaborations.

What Youll Do

Conduct novel and best-in-class research on above mentioned topics.

Contribute to the creation of technical content including academic peer-reviewed papers blog posts and white papers.

Collaborate with the engineering team to implement prototypes build simulations and conduct experiments to test your design models and assumptions.

Engage in discussions with team members and visitors to refine research ideas and share insights from your own research.

Who You Are

You are currently enrolled in a PhD program in a relevant field such as computer science economics mathematics social science or a related discipline. (Exceptional masters and undergraduate students will also be considered.)

You are passionate about decentralized systems and have a basic background to hit the ground running.

You are a good communicator capable of explaining complex ideas in simple terms making research findings accessible to a broader audience.

You possess a clear research vision and the ability to pursue innovative ideas that align with Category Labs mission and objectives.

You are collaborative self-motivated and adaptable with a desire to tackle challenging problems and learn new concepts and techniques in a fast-paced environment.

Why Work with Us

Challenging problems. Youll work on extremely challenging problems with massive impact. See our Blogs and Papers & 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. Monads 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. Youll be part of a small exceptional team.

Culture . Were a lean team working together to achieve very ambitious goals. We are united in our culture of collaboration low egos and high-quality outputs. As an early member of our team youll help to shape our culture.

Compensation . Youll receive a competitive salary.

Resources and growth. Were 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. Youll learn a lot and grow as our company scales.

Internship Details

Duration of internship is roughly 12 weeks and should be between May 18th Aug 28th

Residency in New York NY; strongly preferred but not required.

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 with the name of the applicant Research Intern 2026 in the subject line.

For full consideration please submit applications by November 28 2025.

Required Experience :

Intern

Key Skills

Microsoft Office,Public Relations,Google Docs,Data Collection,MailChimp,Microsoft Word,Dermal Fillers,Microsoft Powerpoint,Research Experience,Microsoft Excel,Adobe Photoshop,Writing Skills

Employment Type : Full-Time

Experience : years

Vacancy : 1

Weekly Salary Salary : 4000 - 4000