Internships

Internship requirements

An internship offers you the opportunity to test your knowledge and skills in practice. Read the step-by-step plan below for general information for Faculty of Humanities students. For this Master's programme specifically, there are several requirements which the internship should fulfill:

15 EC (1 EC equals 28 hours). You may opt for a full time or part time internship, as long as you fulfill the required hours;
Academic level, so you can get work experience using your academic knowledge and skills;
International element, so you can relate your internship to the international aspects of the MA program;
The internship organisation should provide a place for you to work, as well as an internship supervisor at the work place.

If you opt for doing an internship, you are encouraged to arrange your internship in such a way that you can combine it with writing your thesis within one academic year.

Internship objectives

Applying acquired knowledge and skills in a practical working situation;
Improving your skills and social competences in order to strengthen your position on the labour market.

What will be assessed?

Your internship supervisor is responsible for the final assesment of the internship. The quality and diversity of your work and achievements will be assessed on the basis of:

The quality of your internship report in which you analyse to what extent you have been capable to implement the objectives mentioned in your internship working plan;
The quality of your portfolio with concrete working products;
Your functioning during your internship on the basis of an evaluation by your supervisor on the working floor.

The final report of your internship must be a minimum of 10 pages and should fulfil the following criteria:

Introduce your internship in detail. Take this seriously: for example, if you have interned at the Dutch embassy in Berlin, make sure you discuss the role of the embassy in the context of the historical development of Dutch-German relations.
In the report a link should be made back to your previously listed goals. Indicate to what degree you have completed these goals; if you have not completed them, explain why. Analyse how well you functioned in the intern position, but dare to analyse the internship spot itself as well. Do not be afraid to be critical, though take care to keep an academic distance. Your daily supervisor might want to review your report as well.
Make sure to link the internship back to your MA programme. Explain in what ways the knowledge and skills you have acquired during your MA have proved to be useful over the course of your internship.
Include a portfolio of work product examples that, to your understanding, truly represent the nature, level and quality of your internship. As far as your are not able to submit representative examples of your work in terms of concrete products, please try to describe these as extensively as possible in your internship report.
If your internship spot has indicated that products you have contributed to are of a confidential nature (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tends toward this view), make sure to indicate that your academic supervisor is willing to return/destroy the documents containing the work products after having read them.

Internships at the MA International Relations in Historical Perspective are graded Pass/Fail. The supervising lecturer uses these forms to assess your internship:

General HUM Step-by-step plan and forms - (Research) Master's internship

The steps below will help you prepare for your internship and show you the required documents per step. Please read these carefully together with the detailed HUM Internship manual – (Research) Master’s (pdf), which includes important information on finding an internship, internships abroad, writing the internship work plan, registering in Osiris, supervision, keeping a logbook and writing the final report and evaluation.

Important documents in the initial phase

Detailed HUM internship manual – (Research) Master’s (pdf)
Internship work plan guidelines – (Research) Master’s internship (docx)
Approval form internship work plan (pdf)
Standard HUM internship agreement (docx, English) / Standaard GW stageovereenkomst (docx, Dutch)
Internship agreement extension form (docx, Dutch)

Finding an internship

The extent to which you are responsible for finding an internship yourself varies from programme to programme. Read the tips on finding an internship in the detailed Faculty of Humanities internship manual. In some cases, your programme coordinator or internship contact person will provide you with additional information. The Coordinator Careers Orientation of your department can also help you if needed. In any case, you should start your search as early as possible and always check if the internship meets the requirements of your study programme.

Internship supervision

You have two supervisors during your internship:

Your internship supervisor (this is the supervisor at the internship organisation): this is the primary person responsible for providing supervision during the internship; this person is your first contact during your internship and supervises the content of your internship.
Your supervising lecturer (this is a lecturer, usually from your own study programme): this is the person that decides whether the internship (assignment) meets the requirements and mainly supervises the internship process. In addition, the lecturer is the one who at the end assesses the internship.

The supervising lecturer is often assigned to you by your programme, however some programmes ask you to find a lecturer yourself. See the programme specific internship information for how it works at your (research) Master’s programme.

Internship work plan

Once you have secured an internship position, you will write an internship work plan in which you describe the internship assignment, your learning objectives and motivation, and agreements relating to supervision. The exact content of the plan depends on the specific internship you wish to complete:

Internship work plan guidelines – (Research) Master’s internship (docx)

Approval internship work plan

Your supervising lecturer and internship supervisor approve your internship work plan by using the approval form internship work plan (pdf). You will fill out this form and then arrange a signature from both supervisors.

Internship agreement

Arranging an internship involves signing an agreement between the Faculty of Humanities, the host organisation and you as the student. This agreement sets out your internship allowance and your liability insurance, giving you greater legal security. You cannot start the internship without this agreement. Preferably you use the standard HUM internship agreement (docx, English) / standaard GW stageovereenkomst (docx, Dutch).

Exceptions

For some organisations, different arrangements apply:

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mediastages: these organisations have their own internship agreements that you must sign and submit.
Meertens Instituut: you must submit both the faculty agreement and the Meertens Institute’s own agreement.

Enrolment OSIRIS

Once you have signed your agreement and obtained a signature from your internship supervisor (not your supervising lecturer), you will email the following three documents to the Humanities Internship Office (stage.gw@uu.nl):

Final internship work plan
Approval form Internship work plan (signed by you, your internship supervisor and your supervising lecturer)
Original internship agreement (signed by you and your internship supervisor)

The Internship Office will check the submitted documents and then signs the agreement, providing the third and last signature. Please note that it is obligatory to hand in the three abovementioned documents at the Internship Office before you start your internship (abroad).

Subsequently you, your supervising lecturer and the internship supervisor receive a signed version of the internship agreement from the Internship Office. The Internship Office will then also register you in OSIRIS (you cannot do this yourself).

Now you are ready to start your internship!

Important documents in the final phase

Internship assessment form – (Research) Master’s (see above, 'Internship products and assessment')
Appendix to internship assessment form - per study programme (see above, 'Internship products and assessment')
Feedback form internship supervisor (docx, English) / Feedbackformulier stagebegeleider (docx, Dutch)
Feedback form teaching internship (docx, English) / Feedbackformulier onderwijsstage (docx, Dutch)
Detailed HUM internship manual – (Research) Master’s including guidelines for the internship report (pdf)

Finishing your internship report

At the end of your internship you finish your internship report. Have a look at the document 'Appendix to the internship assessment form' of your own study programme and the general guidelines in the internship manual to see what is expected of you.

Feedback internship supervisor

A few weeks before the end of your internship, you will ask your internship supervisor of the organisation for feedback on your internship by using the Feedback form internship supervisor. It is recommended to integrate this feedback into your internship report and reflect on it.

Submitting your internship report

You submit your report (including all attachments) to your supervising lecturer and in some cases as well to the internship organisation.

Assessment of your internship

Your supervising lecturer is responsible for assessing your internship. The quality of your internship report will be the main determinant for your final grade. Assessment is conducted using a standard assessment form and formulated programme specific criteria. You can find these documents above under 'Internship products and assessment'.

Meeting supervising lecturer and internship supervisor

At the end of your internship your supervising lecturer will organise a conversation with your internship supervisor on your internship performance to come to a final assessment. Feedback from the feedback form will then be discussed.

Final grade

Although the internship report is the main determinant for your final grade, your study programme might have additional programme specific assessment criteria (see 'Appendix internship assesment form' of your own programme) to determine your final internship grade. Your lecturer will inform you of your final grade, and ensure that you receive (or have access to) copies of the completed assessment and feedback form. Your grade and the number of EC will be entered into OSIRIS by your supervising lecturer.

Archive internship report

Once you have received your grade, you email your final report (including all attachments) to the Humanities Internship Office: stage.gw@uu.nl

Internship Abroad

There are several ways to find an internship abroad:

1. You search one yourself. Below you will find some tips on how to search.

2. You can also ask an intermediary organisation for help. Below you will find a number of organisations that can help you; however, there are more.

Don't know yet what kind of organisation you want to do an internship with? A good start to your orientation is to take the free tests from Career Services. For more tips on how to get an internship that matches your interests and ambitions, check the internship manual for students on the internship page of your programme. Can't work it out? Make an appointment with the internship coordinator of your study programme. They will be happy to act as a sparring partner.

Option 1: Finding your own internship

An internship abroad can be done at many different kinds of organisations. Are you a Master’s student? Keep in mind that most Master’s programmes only allow internships that are related to the subject of your studies. Always contact your programme’s (internship) coordinator to discuss your plans.

Some examples:

Organisations/companies that do work in your field of interest and are in line with your study background;
A foreign branch of an organisation from your home country (for example: news organisations, embassies, cultural institutes or NGOs); or an organisation in your home country;
A local company abroad with an international orientation or in a country where you speak the/a language at a high level;
One of several international organisations or governing bodies (such as branches of the UN, the EU, NATO, or IGOs) or other organisations with an international orientation such as a multinational;
(Research projects at) foreign universities* or research institutes;
Museums, events, think tanks, cultural institutions, etc. with a collection/activities important for your specialisation.

* Internship Dutch as a Foreign Language: are you a student of Dutch, or are you interested in the Dutch language, language acquisition or language teaching? Then you can combine a study abroad with an internship teaching Dutch as a foreign language (NVT). Countries with many students of Dutch include France, Spain, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Germany. For more information and available traineeships, please contact Emmeline Besamusca-Douwes.

Option 2: Finding an internship through an intermediary organisation

There are several organisations that mediate in the search for internships. They often charge money for their work, so read the conditions carefully and ask yourself if this is really necessary for you. Not all internship vacancies are equally suitable, but you can use them to see which organisations offer internships and get ideas that way. Some links that may help you further:

Europe: Jobted, Europlacement, ETCi - UK, iAgora
Other regions: United States, Australia, Curaçao, South America
Worldwide: iHipo, AIESEC

More information

If you want to know more, or if you have any questions about internships, contact your programme coordinator. If you have questions about your enrolment in OSIRIS, you can contact the Internship Office Humanities.

Feedback

Internships

Internship requirements

Internship objectives

What will be assessed?

General HUM Step-by-step plan and forms - (Research) Master's internship

Before you start your internship

Important documents in the initial phase

Finding an internship

Internship supervision

Internship work plan

Approval internship work plan

Internship agreement

Exceptions

Enrolment OSIRIS

During your internship

Supervision

Keeping a log

Start writing your internship report

Extend the internship

After your internship

Important documents in the final phase

Finishing your internship report

Feedback internship supervisor

Submitting your internship report

Assessment of your internship

Meeting supervising lecturer and internship supervisor

Final grade

Archive internship report

Exceptions

Finding an internship if you have a disability

Student athletes

Internship abroad

Internship Abroad

Internship in the Netherlands versus internship abroad

Internship abroad as an international student

Finding an internship

Finances and insurance

Registration in Osiris

Contact Internships

More information

Feedback

Contact

Follow HUM

Follow Utrecht University