6 ECTS credits
180 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4018227ENR 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
Enrollment Requirements
You can only enroll if you succeed the selectionprocess. More information is available via Canvas. For questions, please contact internship.business@vub.be
Taught in
English
Faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
Department
Business
Educational team
Michael Dooms (course titular)
Bruno Moeremans
Fanny Soyeur
Activities and contact hours
1 contact hours Lecture
1 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
178 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

The objective of the internship is that the student cooperates in a concrete project within a company or other organisation.  The duration is set at minimum 20 full-time working days; there is however no maximum set.  It is explicitly not the objective that the student is employed to perform daily operational activities (of course this is possible if this is imperative for the execution of the project, but this can not be the core of the internship).  In other words, a concrete formulation of the problem is needed, as well as a methodology and planning to tackle/solve the problem (or part thereof) within the internship. Examples are market research and analysis, functional analysis of business processes, implementation of new processes, analysis of company data (on a process, department or organisational level). 

The internship can be executed in private firms, not-for-profit organisations as well as the public sector.

Students are required to search a position on an individual basis. Once a position has been found,  the student needs to contact the VUB Career Center for further administrative purposes. The VUB Career Center contacts the entitled professor to approve the internship. All internship offers are on the website of the VUB Career Center (http://www.vub.ac.be/careercenter/).

Preferentially, the internship is executed during the summer months. However, the internship may be executed during each period of the academic year, provided that the student takes the necessary measures to ensure the follow-up for other course related activities.  The internship may be executed on a full-time or a part-time basis (e.g. 2 full-time workings days during 10 calender weeks).

After the completion of the internship, the student is expected to write an internship report.  This report consists of (1) a note of about 5 to 10 pages (max. 3000 words) that explains how the internship unfolded, what the problem was, how this was tackled/solved. Also, a short description of the delivered outputs is required.  Optionally, a student may also provide in this note a brief critical reflection on the use and relevance of the skills and competences obtained during the Bachelor (and Master) degree (2)  an annex consisting of the most representative outputs which were delivered to the firm or organisation (PowerPoint presentations, notes, other documents).

This report needs to be submitted at the latest on the 15th of March of the academic year during which the student is to obtain his or her master's degree. Otherwise, students expecting to obtain their degree in September are required to submit at the latest on the 15th of August. Students expecting to obtain their degree in January need to submit before the 15th of December. If the end date of the internship exceeds the deadline, an exception can be granted (formal approval by e-mail from the course holder).

Additional info

Teaching Methods

Lecture: collective contact-dependent moments during which the lecturer engages with learning materials
- Seminar, Exercises or Practicals (Practical): collective or individual contact-dependent moments during which the students are guided to actively engage with learning materials
- Independent or External Form of Study (Self): independent study

This description of the teaching methods is indicative, in order to assess the expected study load.

Lecture: 1 hour

  • information session on do-and-don’ts (Internship forum, organized by Inisol)

Practical: 1 hour

  • alignment of the assignment (Ex ante evaluation of the objectives of the assignment with both the company and the course holder against the course objectives)

Self: 178 hours

  • searching internship (incl. administrative process): 8 hours
  • internship: 152 hours (20 days x 7,6 hours)
  • reporting: 16 hours
Learning Outcomes

Algemene competenties

The internship aims to introduce the student into corporate practice at management level.  The internship allows the student to confront the theoretical knowledge of the courses to practical reality. 

These compentences are expected at the end of the internship:

  • Function autonomously in an organisation
  • Solve a real management/business economics related problem (in a critical way)
  • Report in a professional manner
  • Use the obtained skills and competences from the bachelor/master courses in a real situation

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
SELF Internship determines 100% of the final mark.

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

  • Internship Report with a relative weight of 100 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

Written evaluation based on the internship report.

Oral explanation may be demanded to clarify elements of the internship report.

After the completion of the internship, the student is expected to write an internship report.  This report consists of (1) a note of about 5 to 10 pages (max. 3000 words) that explains how the internship unfolded, what the problem was, how this was tackled/solved. Also, a short description of the delivered outputs is required.  Optionally, a student may also provide in this note a brief critical reflection on the use and relevance of the skills and competences obtained during the Bachelor (and Master) degree (2)  an annex consisting of the most representative outputs which were delivered to the firm or organisation (PowerPoint presentations, notes, other documents).

This report needs to be submitted at the latest on the 15th of March of the academic year during which the student is to obtain his or her master's degree. Otherwise, students expecting to obtain their degree in September are required to submit at the latest on the 15th of August. Students expecting to obtain their degree in January need to submit before the 15th of December.

This course cannot be taken as part of a credit contract.

It is not allowed to combine 2 internships of 6 ECTS within different organisations into one 12 ECTS internship. The only exception concerns the tutoring project of 6 ECTS, which can be combined with a 6 ECTS internship.

 

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

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of International Business: Standaard traject
Master of Business Engineering: Business and Technology: Standaard traject