Internships

What is a curricular internship

Carrying out a curricular internship means spending a period of time working at a company or institution and earning university credits at the end of the activity. Taking up an intenship is not mandatory (at LEGS, you may include it in your study plan among your electives), but is an opportunity for you to learn, grow, and contribute in a professional setting. 

Internships are carried out on the basis of an agreement between the University of Bologna and the host structure (company, public body, professional firm etc.) and an internship programme signed by both parties.

Types of internships included in your Degree Programme

Depending on the number of credits you are willing to gain, you can select:

• Internship for 6 credits (150 hours)
• Internship for 12 credits (300 hours)
• Internship for 18 credits (450 hours)

 Please note, that you can carry out a maximum of 18 credits.

You can also add to your study plan one Internship for the preparation of the final dissertation.

The aim of such internship has to be consistent with the dissertation topic and agreed with the supervisor.

In this case, once agreed the topic of your dissertation with your supervisor, you can ask the Internship office to add the internship to you career sending an email to giuri.tirocini@unibo.it.

When you can apply

You can carry out your internship from the end of the second semester of the first year (during the Summer) onwards, up to your second year, and anyway, after having selected the relevant option in your study plan.

Internship Academic Tutor: Prof. Daniele Senzani

How to activate the internship at a company or external organization  

First, prepare an effective CV and a cover letter. If you need help, you can refer to the Job Placement services: Preparing for the world of work — Job Placement English Version

To set up your curricular internship, you have to log into SOL-Internships where you can:

1. Apply for the published internship offers;
2. Check the list of partner companies and send them a spontaneous s application;

If you want to carry out your internship in a company that has not yet signed an agreement, send the organization the instructions to register on our internship platform and provide the internship office with the name of the company/organization and the name of the person you are in contact with.

After the company has accepted your application (for an offer or a spontaneous application), you  receive an email with the instructions to complete the activation procedure that will follow these steps: validation by the internship office, approval by the internship commission/academic tutor, signature of the program and printing of the attendance sheet.

NB: Only once the program is signed by you and the company, you are allowed to download the attendance register from SOL - Internships in which you will find the definitive period of authorized performance and start the internship.

NB: Before starting the internship, you have to complete the Health and Safety Training Courses (Module 1 and Module 2).

If you have already a safety certification - Module 1 - obtained outside of the University, you must verify its validity by writing to: sicurezza.formazione@unibo.it. Once obtained the confirmation of its validity, please send the confirmation mail and your safety certification to the Internship Office. The safety certification - Module 2 - must necessarily be obtained by the University of Bologna.  

PLEASE NOTE:

• the authorized internship period is the one indicated in the attendance sheet (which may be different from the one in the offer or in the autonomous application) and that it is not possible to start the internship activity without having correctly completed the entire procedure, under penalty of non-validation of the hours, it is also not possible to continue the internship beyond the end date indicated on the attendance sheet. In case of extensions, it is necessary to contact the internship office. The number of hours indicated on the attendance register must be respected.

• Internships, as well as all other academic activities, must be carried out in presence, the academic tutor only, once checked the internship program can authorize students to work remotely.
• students cannot carry out internships within a host organisation whose legal representative, director or business associate has family ties within the 2nd grade with the student applicant.

You would like to carry out your internship within an office or a lab of the University of Bologna

In agreement with your Internship Academic Tutor and with the reference person of the chosen University structure or lab, then send an application via SOL-Internships:

1. please make sure to complete the compulsory modules on Health and Safety (module 1 and 2) Please note: the procedure can't start if both modules are not completed.
2. select  the button “Apply for Internship within Unibo";
3. fill in all the requested fields;
4. wait for the email confirming that your request has been validated;
5. after the Internship Board has approved the activity for you, you will receive another e-mail indicating how to activate your internship and the link to sign the program on line (PLEASE, check that the reference person at the Unibo Department/Office had signed the program as well);
6. download from SOL-Internships the attendance sheet, where you will find the period for the internship approved (which may differ from that of the original internship offer).  

Please, remember that:   

• If you have already a safety certification - Module 1 - obtained outside of the University, you must verify its validity by writing to sicurezza.formazione@unibo.it. Once obtained the confirmation of its validity, please send the confirmation mail and your safety certification to the Internship Office. The safety certification - Module 2 - must necessarily be obtained by the University of Bologna. 
• you can start your internship only after all the involved partners have signed your internship programme and only after you have downloaded the attendance sheet.

You would like to carry out an internship abroad

You can carry out your internship outside of Italy following one of the two possibilities listed below:

• by participating in a mobility programme (ex: Erasmus+ Mobility for Traineeship, grants for preparing your dissertation abroad, etc.);
• by contacting a company/institution located abroad, and following the passages explained above.

You would like an external working activity to be recognized as a curricular internship

If you have completed an external activity (a non-curricular internship, a placement, etc.) that you think is relevant to your study field, you can ask for its recognition as a curricular internship. Check the information on how to submit your request in the related page.

What to do during your intership

• Fill in your attendance sheet, in compliance with the period approved for your internship.
• If, for any reason, you wish to interrupt or extend your internship, or if you have concluded/accomplished your tasks and hours earlier than planned, you must inform the Internship Office, with the Internship Academic Tutor and your reference person in the host organisation in carbon copy (cc).
• Should you need to travel to locations not included in the approved programme, you can ask for an insurance extension to the Internship Academic Tutor. Please email him or her, with the Internship Office and reference person at the host organisation in carbon copy, then wait for your request to be approved.
• During the whole internship period, you are insured against accidents at work and third party liability claims. For further information, please consult the Insurance Policy webpage.

What to do at the end of the internship

In the following order:

1. Before leaving the internship position, make sure that your attendance sheet is duly filled in and signed.
2. Upload the attendance sheet on SOL-Internships
3. Fill in the evaluation form that you'll then be directed to (you will find the link after you will have uploaded the attendance sheet)
4. Once completed the points before, the Internship Office will validate the activity and your Internship Academic Tutor will register it. (It is not necessary to book a "registration session" on AlmaEsami).