Internship (MSc students)

This page offers information for MSc students of Wageningen University (MBS, MPB or MPS specialisations D, E or F) that want to take course PBR-70424 “MSc Internship Plant Breeding”, or alternatives with 24 – 39 ECTS. This information is also applicable in case of a “double degree” or Erasmus exchange, when WUR is course examiner.

For non-WUR students

This information is not intended for students from other institutions of higher education, who want to do their internship in Wageningen at Plant Breeding. We have limited capacity to host non-WUR students. Academic and HBO candidates should send well-motivated requests directly to putative supervisors of ongoing projects. Project descriptions and supervisors can be found here. MBO students (niveau 4) should contact alex.vansilfhout@wur.nl. We cannot compensate for travel or living costs.

To find an internship topic

Select a company or institute where you want to do your internship. In case you cannot find what you want and you would like to know more about internships, please contact the internship coordinator of PBR: Dr. Gerard van der Linden (gerard.vanderlinden@wur.nl, tel: 0317 480850). Also read the course guide (link below).

Once you have found an internship, contact Gerard van der Linden by email, and send him a description of your internship project. He will make an assessment of the internship project, and judge whether it meets the criteria for an internship at PBR.

Internships students within PBR can do two types of internships: 1) A research internship, and 2) A professional internship. The internships both use the code PBR70424. The research internship is an internship centered around a single research project with clear research questions, completed with a research report. A professional internship is an internship in which the internship student contributes to different projects or to a single, larger project. A professional internship is completed with a set of deliverables and a context report, but also includes a scientific, academic presentation and discussion of the results (See also the internship course guide (link below)).

In addition to a daily supervisor from the company or institute, you need to have an academic supervisor from WUR Plant Breeding. The internship coordinator (Gerard van der Linden) can help you find a suitable WUR supervisor. The WUR supervisor has to agree with the level of your internship project and the quality of supervision offered. He/she will also take the examination and judge your report with a second assessor.

Registration and administration

Your WUR supervisor will provide you with a link to the Osiris internship registration and administration system. Within the system, you will be asked to fill in and sign a learning agreement (together with your WUR supervisor), and to fill in a contract (with your internship provider and WUR, represented by Gerard van der Linden). Formats for both documents are provided in the system. Any questions related to the contract can be discussed with the internship coordinator (Gerard van der Linden), who will also sign the contract on behalf of the university.

To prepare the internship report and colloquium

You perform your internship activities under the daily supervision of your company/institute supervisor and inform your WUR supervisor on the progress (guided by the administrative system, and what you agree to do with your WUR supervisor). You prepare your internship report following the instructions given by your WUR supervisor. You also need towrite a self-reflection report (only read by your assessors).

You will be asked to give a colloquium at the end of your internship: a presentation of about 30 minutes including discussions about your internship research. Your WUR internship supervisor will organize the date and place of this colloquium, which will be held in the WUR Plant Breeding department.

Your internship will be finalized after an exam on your internship report with your WUR supervisor and a second assessor. Please be aware that the final mark of your internship will be evaluated according to the standard evaluation form, that includes a Rubric.

To hand in the internship report

Hand in a pdf version of your internship report and self-reflection report to (1) your supervisor and second assessor (at least seven days before the exam, or following the agreement with your supervisors). Your evaluation along with the evaluation will be presented to the PBR secretariat by your WUR supervisor. The internship report will not be sent to the WUR library but will be kept at the secretariat of Plant Breeding for internal review purposes only.

Relevant information while starting your Internship

Course guide

Internship contract

Learning agreement

Layout of the internship report

Cover page

This page contains the title of the report, the name of the author, and a date. It further usually contains the logo’s of Wageningen University & Research and the internship provider. Cover pages of the hosting organization can be used also.

Title page (right hand page)

This page contains again the title, optionally a subtitle. The title is followed by blocks with:

  1. data of the internship course (name, code, credits, and submission date),
  2. data of the student (name including all initials, registration number, and study program code),
  3. name, affiliation, and address of internship coordinator and
  4. name, organization, and address of internship provider.

Example pages are available.

Summary (start at right hand page)

This part is a summary of the internship. It includes information on the place where the internship is spent, the work done, and the most relevant parts of the reflection on the internship. The length is about one to two pages A4.

Table of contents (start at right hand page)

Information on the place where internship is spent

This section contains information on the country, the organisation, etc.

Description of the work performed during the internship

The basic structure of an MSc thesis can be used (Introduction – Literature – Materials and methods – Results – Discussion – Conclusion). When this lay-out does not fit other more appropriate layouts can be used also. If the hosting organization prescribes a specific layout, this should be followed. The length of this part is at least 20 pages.

Reflection

The student has to reflect on the learning goals formulated before the start of the internship. The length of this part is about one to two pages. The reflection part can also be separated from the internship report.