You can use some of your optional course profile credits (7.5 to a maximum of 15 EC) to complete an internship. You can consult your study advisor to see how to include an internship in your curriculum. If you start your internship before 5 February 2021, your internship with this programme will be arranged through Osiris Cases (see the explanation in the step-by-step plan below). 

For more information, please contact your internship coordinator.

Media and Culture internship

Internship coordinator

Sanne Sprenger MA
Telephone number: 030 253 6263

If you would like to do an internship as part of your Bachelor’s programme, it is best to contact your internship coordinator well in advance. This gives you enough time to get everything sorted. Your internship coordinator helps you to find, set up, process and complete your internship as well as connect you to a supervising lecturer.

Doing an internship

Does your internship start before 5 February 2021? In that case, the formal internship procedure within this degree programme will take place via OSIRIS Cases. This means that you will start your internship process in OSIRIS under the tab Cases > My cases. If you have any questions, please contact your internship coordinator.

Important documents in the initial phase

Finding an internship

You are responsible for finding your own suitable internship (e.g. via your own network of acquaintances, social media, the internship database and Career Services). Your internship coordinator can also help you if needed. In any case, you should start your search as early as possible and check how the internship will fit within your study programme. 

Here are some useful events you can attend: Humanities Careers Night, Your Perspective and the job application training sessions offered by Career Services.

Finding a supervising lecturer

Screenshot Osiris Cases, My Cases

You do not need to find your own supervising lecturer. Once you have registered your internship in OSIRIS via My Cases > Start case, your internship coordinator will assign a lecturer to you. You can only register your internship in OSIRIS after you have written your internship plan (see below).

Making an internship plan

Once you have secured an internship post, you will write a draft version of your internship plan in which you describe the internship assignment, learning objectives, agreements relating to supervision and a few important dates (e.g. for meetings, presentations and deadlines). The exact content of the plan will depend on the specific internship you wish to complete:

Next, you must register your internship in OSIRIS via My Cases > Start case. Enter all the necessary information and upload your internship plan. You will consult with your internship supervisor and your supervising lecturer to write a definitive internship plan. 

Approval internship plan

Your supervising lecturer and internship supervisor will assess your internship plan. You can always check the status on your OSIRIS Cases page.  

Drafting an internship agreement

Completing an internship involves creating an agreement between the Faculty of Humanities, the host organisation and you as the student. This agreement sets out your liability insurance for the internship, giving you greater legal security. You must upload your internship agreement no later than two weeks before your internship begins. You will not be permitted to start the internship without this agreement. To draft your agreement, please use the standard internship agreement (pdf). This contract is also available in Dutch: standaard stageovereenkomst (pdf). If your internship goes on for longer than originally intended, use the internship agreement extension form (pdf, in Dutch).

Once you have signed your agreement and obtained a signature from your internship supervisor (not your supervising lecturer), you must upload it to your OSIRIS Cases page. The Internship Office will check the submitted documents and sign the agreement.

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 upload in OSIRIS Cases.
  • Meertens Instituut
    You must submit both the faculty agreement and the Meertens Institute’s own agreement in OSIRIS Cases.

Has everything been signed and approved in OSIRIS Cases?

Once you receive notification in OSIRIS Cases that your internship plan has been approved and your internship agreement has been signed, you are ready to start your internship. The Internship Office will then register you in OSIRIS (you cannot do this yourself).

Supervision

Several people will supervise you during your internship:je stage:

  • the supervising lecturer, who will supervise the internship from the university side
  • an internship supervisor at the host organisation

Keeping a log

At least three times during your internship, you must hand in a log in which you record and reflect on your work activities (see manual for details). Your supervising lecturer will give you feedback on this, and you will eventually add the log as an attachment to your internship report.

Writing an internship report

Your internship will be assessed based on your internship report. It’s best to start writing the report early on in your internship. You may spend 10% of your internship working hours on this.

Finishing your internship report

At the end of your internship, you must finish your internship report containing an evaluation section, and a description of the ‘end product’ of the internship (see manual for details). This report will form the basis for your supervising lecturer’s assessment.

Submitting your internship report

You must upload your report (including all attachments) in OSIRIS Cases. Your report will then be forwarded directly to the Internship Office. Remember to send a report to the host organisation as well.

Assessment of your internship

Your supervising lecturer is responsible for assessing your internship. The standard of your internship report will be the main determinant for your final mark. Assessment is conducted using a standard assessment form specific to the internship type:

We also ask your internship supervisor from the host organisation to provide further input for the assessment. To request this feedback, you can use the internship feedback form (pdf) / feedbackformulier functioneren stagewerkplek (pdf, in Dutch). 

Final mark

Your lecturer will inform you of your final grade, and ensure that you receive (or have access to) copies of the completed assessment forms. Your mark and the number of EC will be entered into OSIRIS.

An internship is not always easy to find, but there are many different ways to secure an internship position.

Finding an internship if you have a disability

Internships for students with disabilities are not always easy to find. If you run into any problems, please contact your internship coordinator. The following websites offer useful suggestions and/or internship vacancies:

  • Expertise Centrum Inclusief Onderwijs (in Dutch)
    Information on completing an internship with a disability, including a useful Guidebook (website in Dutch only).
  • Onbegrensd Talent
    A recruitment and selection agency for highly-educated people with a disability (website in Dutch only).

Student athletes

Student athletes may face more difficult challenges in finding an appropriate internship. Fortunately, a growing number of companies are aware of the needs of this group of student interns and are taking steps to make it easier for this target group to complete internships (e.g. flexible working hours and a longer internship duration). For more information, please refer to your Student Counsellor.

If you want to complete an internship abroad, spending six months to a year on preparation is an absolute necessity. Be sure to start your search well in advance. Applying for documents such as visas and residency permits can take a long time. For more information, please contact the Internship Office (Humanities Student Information Desk). 

Contact

To obtain a signature from the faculty on your application for an Erasmus scholarship or public transport allowance, you must provide proof that you will be completing an internship. This may take the form of an agreement, or an email exchange with the host organisation.

Registration in Osiris

If you want to do an internship abroad, you must register this in OSIRIS. Click on Abroad specify the period during which you will be completing your international internship. Make sure to also include your address abroad so that we can contact you in case of an emergency.

Finding an internship

There are various ways to find an internship.

Searching on your own

  • Via the Humanities internship database
  • By city/region
    • the website of the city itself
    • local newspapers (e.g. via www.allyoucanread.com)
    • the national government
    • the regional government
  • By company/organisation
    • Foreign branch of a Dutch company
      Most of the time you can officially apply for an internship position through the company’s HR department, but you could also be bold and try to contact the foreign branch directly. Make sure you are well-prepared! People often want to know why you are contacting them, who you are and what you want to achieve by doing an internship.
    • A local company abroad
      You can search for opportunities via the country’s own Ministry of Economic Affairs, for example. The foreign commercial registers of the Dutch Kamer van Koophandel (Dutch Chamber of Commerce) can sometimes be helpful as well.
  • By sector
    A good starting point can be the relevant Dutch sector organisation (e.g. the Netherlands Museum Association or the Netherlands Theatre Institute). There you can often find links to international sister organisations. You can also check the yellow pages of a country/region (e.g. in the US: www.yellowpages.com). The Dutch embassy could also be a reference point in this regard.

Searching via an intermediary organisation

Various organisations provide support services for finding internships. These services often require payment. Not all internships are equally suitable. However, you can check which organisations offer internships and get some ideas that way. Here are a few links that might help: 

A few other interesting organisations abroad:

What do you need to consider?

When organising your internship, you can use an international internship agreement (such as this model agreement). Be sure to also check what you need to take into account in terms of health and safety.

Funding

Doing an internship abroad is not cheap. Here are a few useful links:

  • Erasmus+ scholarship (if you will be doing an internship in an EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Turkey) 
  • www.beursopener.nl (Dutch overview of private and other funds). If you have found a fund on this site that requires a recommendation letter from a student counsellor, see our page on how to request an accompanying letter. 

Visas and work permits

  • You do not need a visa or work permit to complete an internship within the EU.
  • For internships outside of Europe, a work permit and/or visa is always required. Bear in mind that it can take a long time to arrange such documents— sometimes up to a year in developing countries!

Insurance and liability

Whether or not you are sufficiently insured during your internship depends on various factors, such as your internship allowance amount, the length of your internship and your age. 
It is important to carefully sort out your individual situation before you sign a contract and begin your internship. This includes understanding which insurance you have and how things are arranged according to the law and the internship contract.

Travel advice

  • You should bear the following in mind when choosing a possible destination: Utrecht University’s policy is to follow the travel advice issued by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Utrecht University liability insurance

According to Dutch law (art. 7:661 lid 1 Burgelijk Wetboek) the student-trainee that causes damage to the host organisation during his/her internship is, in principle, not liable for this. Deviation from this principle can only be done in written agreement and as far as the student-trainee is insured for this (art. 7:661 lid 2 BW).

Utrecht University has included in its liability insurance the students of Utrecht University, without limitation of faculty, during their external internships, provided that this internship is done under the auspices and with the knowledge of the University.