Industrial internships Master Nanoscience and nanotechnology
The possibility for students to perform an industrial traineeship is offered during their master program. Those traineeships, in the holiday period (July-September) between the two master years, are taken into account as areplacement of a broadening course for a total of 6 credits. Industrial training can be executed in the whole world where no dangers might be feared.
Purpose
The purpose of those internships is not only to get acquainted with the culture of companies, but also to realize something of importance for the company visited. By working in a group within the company, it is expected that the trainee gets a better insight in the practical aspects of the industry. This is intended to facilitate the transition from the thorough theoretical education, dispensed at our University, into an industrial professional career.
Procedure
The internship should be planned during the holidays between the two years of the master program. If a substantial motivation is submitted and both the program director and the internship coordinator judge that sufficient prerequisite knowledge is available, one might consider performing an internship before the first master year (it will anyway only be credited in the last year). The minimal duration is six weeks. The student has to take the initiative and look by him or herself for both a contact person within the company and a proposal for work agreed with this contact person. Any further questions can be asked or information obtained with the internship coordinator of the Master, Prof. Dominique Schreurs
No list of possible companies is placed on the web, but all companies active in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology can be selected for the traineeship. In order to avoid overlap with master thesis work, the traineeship cannot take place in the same institute as the one where the thesis is taking place. Do not forget to mention in your request (preferably by email) your interests, so that a first selection can be made. The content of the internship has to be related to the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology, and must be approved by the program coordinator. This person is automatically (co-)promoter of the internship. Another lecturer of the Master programme can be proposed as co-promoter.
An application should be submitted before May,31 and should contain the following elements:
- name and address of the company
- supervisor within the company (with its email address)
- description of the work during the internship (between 1/2 and 1 page)
- start and end date of the internship (the duration should be at least 6 weeks)
This date cannot be postponed for companies which do not accept themodel contract, usually because of intellectual property rights. Please submit the contract proposal as early as possible, but surely before the beginning of the July exam period, so that they can be processed in time. For the companies accepting the model contract, a later date than May, 31 is possible, but in no way after the beginning of the internship.
As soon as you have received the authorisations, you fill in the model contract and you have it signed by the company in 3 copies. You sign all 3 forms also yourself and you pass by with the internship coordinator for the last signatures. The two copies for you and for the company will then be delivered to you according to email agreements.
Approval
Each application for an internship should be approved in advance by the master program director. He is verifying if the content of the internship is satisfying the requirements for sufficient industrial training. The student should provide in his application sufficient elements to allow this evaluation. Internships may be combined with a European week, since there is enough difference between the subject and the implementation.
After this first approval, the proposal is submitted to the internship coordinator for final approval. She will then expect to get the contracts as soon as possible.
Evaluation
At the beginning of the next academic year, each student is supposed to hand in a report on the activities during the internship and to make an oral presentation about it. The report, about 25pages in size, should contain the following elements:
- Title of the work, name of the company with the full address and the email of the local responsible, who has supervised your work
- A short description of the company (about 1page A4)
- A description of the important parts of the work during the internship (about 20pages A4)
- Conclusions of the work. Are the goals set in the work plan met? Was it an interesting experience for the trainee? ... (ca. 2pages A4)
- Description of the internship. Here, the student reports on how the daily routine was proceeding, if the work was interesting and relevant for the company. Also, the practical arrangements (eventual housing abroad, transportation facilities ...) should be commented in this part. (ca. 1page A4)
Based on this report, the members of the internship jury will evaluate the internship, after discussion with the local responsible. Only, if problems occur during the duration of the internship, in such a way that it cannot be completed successfully, the student may replace the internship by another course at the beginning of the academic year. In that case, the student is not obliged to make an activity report.
To keep confidential information for the company, the students are supposed to first get the approval of the local responsible within the company for the first 3 elements of the report. Eventual confidential matters, useful for the evaluation of the internship, may be provided in a separate appendix. Insofar this is not mentioned in the contract with the company, we will sign a separate non-disclosure agreement with this company.
A printed version of the report is expected on the First working day after November,2, both with the master program director and with the internship coordinator. The presentations of the work will take place preferably at the end of November. Each student will receive 20 minutes maximum (and this is strictly enforced) to present his/her work, followed by questions from the jury. The local responsible of the company will be invited to this presentation if possible. We will try our best to take into account all his availabilities. If it turns out that he cannot be present, a written evaluation will be requested from him/her. Every student will submit a separate report. If you work with more than one student on a global project, the tasks in the project should be split between the different students, so that every student can emphasize the specific parts that he has achieved. One common presentation is acceptable, but then the work should be presented in a period equal to as many times 20 minutes as there are students involved in the project.
The grades are only officially disclosed at the end of the academic year. Concerning the transfers of grades, the same exam rules as for laboratory work apply.
Contact person: for all information please contact
- the internship coordinator: Prof. D. Schreurs:
- the program director: Prof. G. Groeseneken,