Preparatory Internship

Prerequisites and Recognition

Each student enrolled at the Faculty of Life Sciences must complete an 8-week preparatory internship/work placement outside of the university in a company, organisation or public authority. The goal of the internship is to introduce you to real-world issues relating to your study course. The internship must be closely related to the subject areas of your degree programme’s curriculum; however, it can span a broad range of areas:

  • Agribusiness
    agricultural sciences and/or economical topics, also in the areas of agricultural production, service or commerce, always with reference to agriculture/agribusiness

 

  • Bio Science and Health
    natural sciences, health, organisational and/or economical topics, also in the areas of production of health-related products, service or commerce, always with reference to health

 

  • Bioengineering
    natural sciences, engineering, organisational and/or economical topics, also in the areas of production or medical institutions, always with reference to biotechnology/bioengineering

 

  • Qualität, Umwelt, Sicherheit und Hygiene
    in the areas of quality, environment, security and hygiene, integrated management systems, organisational and/or economical topics, also in the areas of production, service or commerce

 

  • Sustainable Agriculture
    in an agricultural or horticultural production facility

You can complete all 8 weeks working full time at a single company, organisation or public authority, or you can split the total time into smaller individual internships with different focus areas. The internship(s) should not be a research internship, but provide practical experience in the work sector outside of a university or research facility. In order to have your internship officially accredited you must submit the originals of appropriate proof of length, hours worked per week and an overview of your activities and responsibilities during the internship. Requests for accreditation can be submitted only after initial enrolment at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences.

How to document your internship?

You must submit the original certificate for each completed internship together with the form (see Downloads) for accreditation. A certificate of internship must contain the following elements:

  • Name and address of the employer of the internship
  • Brief introduction to the company/institution
  • Duration of the traineeship (from date to date)
  • Working time (hours per day or week or full-time / part-time)
  • List of activities carried out

Requests for accreditation of the preparatory internship can be submitted only after initial enrolment at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences.

When is the final deadline for completing a preparatory internship?

International students are strongly advised to complete the preparatory internship in their home country before enrolling at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences. This effectively removes the need to overcome any language barriers and increases the pool of potential internship positions. Finding an internship in Germany will be much more difficult, because most companies and organisations will require advanced proficiency in German.

If you cannot complete an internship before initial enrolment, then you can still complete it in your first semesters as a student. The absolute final deadline for accreditation of a preparatory internship is the administrative end of the 3rd semester. If you do not have official accreditation of a preparatory internship at this point, then you will not be admitted to the 4th semester, resulting in an automatic deregistration from the university.

The 4th semester registration deadline occurs around four weeks after the end of the 3rd semester lecture period. In essence, this means your last realistic chance to complete an 8-week internship is before the start of lectures in the 3rd semester!

Can previous work experience count towards the preparatory internship requirement?

Yes, relevant work experience or training can be counted towards the preparatory internship requirement. For example: if you graduated from a secondary school specialising in a field related to your studies, then this qualification can be fully credited towards your preparatory internship requirement. In this case you have to submit a copy of your graduation certificate as proof.

What does not count towards the preparatory internship requirement?

School or other internships, which were completed in institutions, organisations or authorities that have no demonstrable relation to the emphasis areas listed above, do not count towards the preparatory internship requirement.

Downloads

course coordinator

Gudrun Staedel-Schneider, MA

Tel.: (02821) - 806 73 - 242     
E-Mail: Gudrun Staedel-Schneider