Procedures

Stepwise approach

Phase 0 | Organizing an internship

Check the prerequisitesPlease check whether you fulfill the prerequisites.

Start looking for internship possibilitiesStart looking for internships really on time, preferably six months in advance.

Contact education.orl@wur.nlAs soon as you know you want to have your internship supervised by us, send an e-mail to our internship coordinator (from here referred to as 'coordinator) via education.orl@wur.nl. In parellel, you fill out this intake form so that the coordinator is informed on your study background and the period in wish you wish to start. After we have received your form, you will be invited to our intake session.

Come to our intake meetingInternship intakes are organized bi-weekly. Here, the coordinator summarizes the main steps in organizing an internship, explains the internship trajectory and answers any remaining questions.

Send your internship plan for approvalAfter finding an internship provider, you construct a preliminary internship plan, based on the template that you can download via Brightspace ORL Thesis & Internships (you can enrol yourself!). This is a description of the main activities of (the department of) the organization that you will be working for, the project(s) that you will be involved in, and the professional goals of your internship. You send this plan to the coordinator for approval (education.orl@wur.nl). Our coordinator checks whether the internship is at appropriate academic level (see criteria), and in turn assigns a WU supervisor.

Sign the internship contractOnce the plan is approved by the coordinator and the student is assigned to a WU supervisor, the agreements between the internship provider, the WU, and the intern need to be stated in the internship contract. It is strongly advised to use the WU contract form for generic agreements on the formalities of the internship (downloadable here). WU is the last party to sign this contract. Send a partially signed contract to laura.degraaf@wur.nl and cc the coordinator (education.orl@wur.nl). Laura de Graaf will make sure that WU signs the contract. Check the FAQ below to see what steps to take in case the host institution prefers to use the host institution's template contract.

Please, send a copy of your three-party signed contract to your WU supervisor, study advisor, education.orl@wur.nl, and orl.office@wur.nl.

Note: Since the internship for most students is the last part of the master programme, please start arranging your study programme approval (SPA) on time.

Phase 1 | Starting the internship

Sign the learning agreementStudents plan a first one hour meeting with their WU supervisor in the first week of the internship to review the internship plan. Based on the internship plan, you fill in and sign the learning agreement. This agreements secures the learning trajectory and states mutual expectations therein explicitly. Please, send a copy of your signed learning agreement to your WU supervisor, study advisor, education.orl@wur.nl, and orl.office@wur.nl.

Phase 2 | Executing your internship project

Progress evaluationFor a successful internship, it is important that you discuss progress during your internship with both of your host and WU supervisors. In addition to regular meetings with your host supervisor, a progress evaluation meeting needs to be organised with your WU supervisor to discuss your progress and performance so far.

Phase 3 | Finalizing your internship

Draft discussionYou usually get one possibility to discuss a draft report with your WU supervisor before you hand in the final report.

Oral presentationYou present your product to the internship provider. Please, invite your WU supervisor for this event. In case you would like to present your work in an ORL colloquium as well, please request a timeslot here. Presenting your work in a colloquium is not obligatory.

Hand in final deliverables, final assessmentAfter students have incorporated the last feedback of the WU supervisor, they hand in their final deliverables plus a reflection report minium 1 week before the internship defence.

FAQ

What is the difference between the contract, the learning agreement and the internship plan?

Before the internship starts, you, the host supervisor and the internship coordinator from the chair group have to agree on the formalities of your internship. These agreements need to be stated in the internship contract.In addition, you and your WU supervisor have to make agreements related to your learning process during the internship. These agreements are written down in the learning agreement.Finally, you, your host supervisor and your WU supervisor have to make agreements concerning the content of your internship that need to be written down in an internship plan. Usually, the internship plan is attached to the learning agreement.

What supervision support can I expect from my supervisors?

You will have two supervisors. The internship supervisor is the supervisor on behalf of the internship provided. This person guides you through your daily activities and gives feedback of your performance.The ORL supervisor advises and supports you before the start of the internship, e.g. on defining personal learning outcomes, clarifying questions concerning the internship, and assessing your performance during and at the end of the internship. If you experience difficulties during the internship that cannot be discussed with the internship supervisor, do not hesitate to contact the university supervisor who is there to help if difficulties arise. Your ORL supervisor plays a coaching role for you and an advisory role for you and the host supervisor. Generally speaking, students are expected to arrange four meetings with their ORL supervisor:

1st - Starting meeting 2nd - Progress evaluation3rd - Draft discussion4th - Final assessment (presentation and oral defence)*In addition, monthly contact via e-mail between you and your ORL supervisor is important to discuss progress in terms of internship tasks and personal learning goals, planning the next phase, and any other issues that may have arisen during the internship. It is important that you take initiative to inform your ORL supervisor and ask for specific feedback.

*We refer students to the MSc Internship Course guide Wageningen University to read what is needed in preparation for all of these four meetings.

What is expected in the reflection report?

The reflection report is a personal reflection on the academic skills that you were able to apply or learn during the internship, the general and personal learning goals that have been achieved (or are still to be achieved) and on the contribution of your internship to your career. The reflection report includes (at least) the following components, making use of the outcome of the progress evaluation:Motivation for the internship, plus a reflection on the general learning outcomes of the internship; personal learning goals, as set out in the Learning Agreement; the relation between your Master’s programme and your internship, and your potential professional career and future work field.

What steps to take in case the host institutions prefers not to use the WU standard contract?

In case you use the contract form of the internship provider, please execute a check using Appendix II Checklist when other internship contracts are used of the MSc Internship Course guide. It is wise to have external contracts checked by the liaison office of the Social Sciences Department (SSG) of the WUR. The liaison office uses a separate mail address for questions about internship agreements: internshipsagreements.ssg@wur.nl. The office aims to answer to e-mails within two weeks (which does not mean that all issues can be resolved by then!). If the internship host does not accept the WU contract format, please ask for the concrete reasons. This helps to resolve certain issues quicker. Please, send the host’s format in return accompanied by the concrete comments of the host.