Internship Applied Informatics

6 ECTS credits
150 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4016125ENR for all students in the 1st and 2nd semester at a (E) Master - advanced level.

Semester

1st and 2nd semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Impossible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Taught in

Dutch

Faculty

Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences

Department

Computer Science

Educational team

Denis Steckelmacher (course titular)

Activities and contact hours

150 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study

Course Content

The internship offers the student an opportunity to get a taste of professional life and to apply the acquired academic knowledge in practice while still getting some guidance. It also offers the opportunity to improve communication skills in practice where necessary. Doing an internship in the context of a university education also means that there has to be room for expanding knowledge, for instance by the use of new technologies.
The assignment that is executed during the internship must correspond to the work of a computer scientist at university level; it must be beyond the level of a pure programming job. The internship can be seen as a preparation for or can be combined with the master thesis.

For an internship that is not combined with a master thesis, the job description is written down in an internship description that must be approved before the beginning of the internship by the internship promoter (see further on). The student also prepares a work plan.
The internship is guided by an internship promoter and an internship monitor. The internship promoter is a member of the teaching staff of the Bachelor Computer Science, Master in Toegepaste Informatica, Master in Computer Science or Master in Applied Computer Science. The internship monitor works at the company or organization where the student will do their internship. The internship monitor is responsible for the day-to-day guidance of the internship and for evaluating the execution of the internship. This is done by means of an evaluation from containing the following criteria: commitment, autonomy, efficiency, quality of the work, social and communication skills, respect for deadlines and appointments.

An internship combined with a master thesis is supervised by a VUB promoter and an internship monitor. This should be specified when submitting the form for registering the master thesis. The VUB promoter is a member of the academic personnel and teaches a course of Bachelor of Computer Science, Master of Toegepaste Informatica, Master in Computer Science or Master of Applied Computer Science. The internship monitor is a staff member of the company or the organization where the student will carry out their internship. The internship monitor is responsible for the daily supervision of the internship and master thesis and together with the promoter responsible for assessing the internship and master thesis.

Additional info

The internship can start during the summer holidays before the academic year in which the master year program is followed, and has to end before the start of the second exam session. The internship takes at least 18 working days. These days can be spread out, allowing the student to follow all their courses at the university.

Students should arrange their internship position themselves. Offers from companies will be announced on the website of the Department Computer Science.

The (internship) promoter is a member of the teaching staff of Bachelor Computer Science, Master Toegepaste Informatica, Master Computer Science, or Master Applied Computer Science.

The internship can only start after the approval of the internship description (resp. thesis description) by the internship promoter (resp. thesis promoter). Then, when necessary, follows the signing of an internship contract by the trainee, the internship monitor, and the company. The contract is made in three copies, so that the internship/thesis promoter, the trainee, and the company each have one copy in their possession before the internship starts. The student/intern takes care that all parties sign the contract and get a signed copy.

For an internship that is not combined with a master thesis, the student needs to make an internship plan in concert with the internship monitor at the start of the internship. The internship plan is submitted to the internship promoter at the latest one week after the start of the internship. After finishing the internship, the student submits a report to the titular and contacts the titular for an appointment for a presentation.

Study material is to be collected by the student themselves possibly in collaboration with the internship monitor and depending on the assignment.

Students who think that they can be exempt from doing an internship because of a current job can always submit a well-motivated request to the exam commission.

Learning Outcomes

General competencies

The student learns to apply the acquired knowledge in practice. Additionally, the student obtains a feeling for the work environment, if applicable also for company structures and company mentality, and for the different functions that a computer scientist with a university degree can fulfil.
To bring the internship to a good end, the students have to acquire several practical competences:
- Job interview skills: Students should arrange an internship position for themselves, and so they need to contact companies and organizations by telephone, by e-mail or directly. Language, attitude, negotiation skills and an ability to convince are important while doing this;
- Administration: Students need to arrange the administrative formalities concerning the internship for themselves;
- Making a plan and sticking to it: Students need to submit a plan of their work and of their use of time (in concert with the internship monitor) for the execution of the internship assignment. Doing this, the student learns to formulate milestones and goals and to make a realistic assessment of the work to be done. Additionally students must be able to account for themselves when they have not followed the plan;
- Working in a professional environment: The student will function in an (international) professional environment, which will improve their social and communicative skills;
- Reporting skills: The student has to report in writing as well as orally about the work that has been done. He should pay the necessary attention to evaluating the course and results of the internship and reflecting about it.

This implies the following competences:
- Knowledge and insight: The student has knowledge in a specific application domain of computer science and insight in the processes of a professional organization or company.
- Application of knowledge and insight: The student can apply knowledge and insight that were obtained in earlier study in the context of a specific company or organization.
- Judgement: The student can quickly make choices that can advance the assignment, and he/she can choose appropriate solution strategies and techniques.
- Communication: The student can function in an (international) team or in the context of a company. The student is able to report about the work done in writing as well as orally, in a reasoned, coherent and convincing manner. This can be in English or in Dutch.
- Learning abilities: The student can learn new techniques, technologies and methods.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
SELF Presentation determines 10% of the final mark.
SELF Internship determines 70% of the final mark.
SELF Report determines 20% of the final mark.

Within the SELF Presentation category, the following assignments need to be completed:

mondelinge presentatie with a relative weight of 100 which comprises 10% of the final mark.

Note: The internship report and the presentation are judged by the titular (person responsible for this part of the curriculum). Presentations take place during exam sessions. Presentations should take at most 10 minutes. Concerning the presentation, content as well as oral presentation skills are taken into account.

Within the SELF Internship category, the following assignments need to be completed:

stage with a relative weight of 100 which comprises 70% of the final mark.

Note: The internship is evaluated by the internship promotor with input from the internship monitor by means of an evaluation form. This is done by means of an evaluation from containing the following criteria: commitment, autonomy, efficiency, quality of the work, social and communication skills, respect for deadlines and appointments.

Within the SELF Report category, the following assignments need to be completed:

schriftelijk verslag with a relative weight of 100 which comprises 20% of the final mark.

Note: The internship report and the presentation are judged by the titular (person responsible for this part of the curriculum). The report is at least 10 and at most 20 pages long (not including appendices). The work plan is appended as an appendix. The internship report should at least mention the assignment, the context in which the internship was executed, the manner of execution (methodology used, techniques, programming languages, …), and a description of the acquired results. Also the internship report should contain an evaluation of the internship and a reflection about it by the student himself (the course of the internship, the results, possibly difficulties and problems, …).In the evaluation of the internship report, not only the content is judged, but also the structure, the language, and the layout. Concerning the presentation, content as well as oral presentation skills are taken into account.

Additional info regarding evaluation

For an internship that is not combined with a master thesis, a report has to be written and a short presentation must be given. The internship, the report, and the presentation are all judged.
The internship is evaluated content-wise by the internship promoter in concert with the internship monitor by means of an evaluation form. The following criteria are taken into account: commitment, independence, efficiency, quality of the work done, social and communication skills, respect for deadlines and agreements.
The internship report and the presentation are judged by the titular (person responsible for this part of the curriculum). The report is at least 10 and at most 20 pages long (not including appendices). The work plan is appended as an appendix. The internship report should at least mention the assignment, the context in which the internship was executed, the manner of execution (methodology used, techniques, programming languages, …), and a description of the acquired results. Also the internship report should contain an evaluation of the internship and a reflection on it written by the student (the course of the internship, the results, possibly difficulties and problems, …).
In the evaluation of the internship report, not only the content is judged, but also the structure, the language, and the layout. Concerning the presentation, content as well as oral presentation skills are taken into account.

An internship combined with a master thesis is evaluated content-wise on the same criteria as a stand-alone internship (commitment, autonomy, efficiency, quality of the work, social and communication skills, respect for deadlines and appointments). Reporting must be included in the master thesis and the presentation occurs during the presentation of the master thesis.

Partial marks for the internship, if the student obtains at least half of the score for this part, are transferred to the second session. Students may not relinquish partial marks.

Partial marks for the oral presentation, if the student obtains at least half of the score for this part, are transferred to the second session. Students may not relinquish partial marks.

Partial marks for the written report, if the student obtains at least half of the score for this part, are transferred to the second session. Students may not relinquish partial marks.

The final grade is a weighted average. If one of the partial marks is equal to or lower than 7/20, then the lowest of the partial grades becomes the final grade.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context