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 like to know more about internship, please contact the internship coordinator of PBR: Dr. Anne-marie Wolters (anne-marie.wolters@wur.nl, Tel: 0317-482838). Read the 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 academic supervisor has to agree with the level of your internship project, the quality of supervision offered, and take the examination.

To sign the internship contract

Fill in the internship contract (link below under Relevant information), together with your internship supervisors.
Send in your signed internship contract to:

  1. your supervisors;
  2. your study advisor;
  3. internship coordinator (Anne-marie Wolters);
  4. the secretariat of Plant Breeding (Letty Dijker).

To prepare the internship report and colloquium

Perform your internship activities under the daily supervision of your company/institute supervisor and inform your WUR supervisor on the progress on a regular basis.

Prepare your internship report following the instructions shown below (“Layout of the internship report”). Write a self-reflection report (only read by examiner). Write a short reflection on the internship company/institute with recommendations to future students (only read at request by fellow students, ask secretary office).

Perform the colloquium: you will be asked to do a colloquium, 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.

Have an exam on your internship report with your WUR supervisor and a second examiner. Please be aware that the final mark of your internship will be evaluated according to the standard evaluation form with 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 examiner (seven days before the exam, or following the agreement with your supervisors); (2) the secretariat of Plant Breeding.

Relevant information while starting your Internship

Course guide

Internship contract

Internship contract

Layout of the internship report

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 (a) data of the internship course (name, code, credits, and submission date), (b) data of the student (name including all initials, registration number, and study program code), (c) name, affiliation, and address of internship coordinator and (d) 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.