Internships
An internship is a great way to gain a better understanding of a field that you are considering for your later career, whether at masters level or as a possible field of work. It allows you to probe the world beyond academia, an experience that is becoming ever more important, not only in post-academic careers, but also for an increasing number of master programs.
Internships fit the curriculum plan best in the second or third year of study. Generally, students follow internships between semesters, since the employers or supervisors expect interns to be present full time. Some internships can be carried out during the semester. The minimum duration is five weeks full time or 210 hours across the semester.
An internship is registered as an academic core course at level 2, and does not count towards the major. It may count as 7.5 of the required 180 credits - i.e. one course load - for an undergraduate diploma.
Here are some quotes from an alumna’s experience of what her internship meant for her development during and after UCU.
“Personally, my thesis internship was the perfect summation of my UCU career. It allowed me to put so many concepts, ideas and techniques I had previously only seen on paper into practice. This was an enlightening and above all exciting experience for me. What started originally as a six-week internship ended up being a seven-month labour of love. The internship was a spring-board for me to continue research in the field, and an indicator of what a PhD project would be like- something I now know I would like to pursue."
For more information on non-academic internships please contact the Futures Centre at ucu.futures@uu.nl. For academic internships please contact the relevant fellow.
Make sure to take a look at the Internships section on the student website, where you can find more information concerning internships, including an overview with currently available internships.
All forms concerning internships can be found on the Forms page.
The official course outline for an internship can be found in the Course Planner.