Internship guideline

Guidelines for credit transfer

Here you will find all relevant information on the crediting of the internship of the Master's program in Political Science.

Preparation for the internship

The independent search for internships relevant to the social sciences and contacting potential employers are among the internship-related requirements for students. The potential fields of activity are wide-ranging and can be geared towards personal interests, provided that the activities are relevant to the social sciences. The Internship Office is happy to provide support if required and advises students on all questions relating to potential fields of activity. There is also the opportunity to take advantage of further offers from the university. The special feature of the internship in the Master's degree program is the completion of a scientific question in the form of a term paper. This must be clarified in advance with the relevant mentor (for further details, see Finding a mentor)

Registration of the internship

If the internship and the associated academic question and the term paper have been clarified with the supervising mentor, it can be registered at the internship office. The internship must be completed in an area relevant to the degree program or a potential professional field with a focus on the social sciences. An informal short report on the planned activities must be enclosed with the application for the internship. The registration form must be submitted together with the activity report to the Internship Office by e-mail or in printed form.

Please find the registration document "Anmeldung" attached below

Find a mentor

A mentor is the person who evaluates the term paper and signs your internship certificate. In addition to the internship office, a mentor is another point of contact for questions and/or problems during the internship process. Any authorized person from the Faculty of Sociology can be considered as a mentor. It is irrelevant whether this person has the status of a professor or is a member of academic staff in the form of a lecturer. The mentor is already relevant in the run-up to the desired submission of the internship certificate and the associated submission of the signed internship certificate, as the term paper to be submitted must be discussed with him/her.

Completing an internship

As soon as the formalities have been clarified in advance (registration and, if necessary, finding a mentor), you can start your internship. From a university perspective, you have a high degree of autonomy in terms of the time period and weekly workload. You can therefore work full-time or part-time (if necessary in consultation with your employer), complete the internship during the lecture period or during the lecture-free period and attend university courses according to your individual wishes or requirements. The only decisive factor is that you stick to the agreed activities that you have communicated via the registration form. If you have any problems and/or questions during your internship, please contact your mentor or our internship office in good time. We will be happy to help you. Also remember to let your employer know as early as possible that you need a work or internship reference. This is a mandatory part of the documents to be submitted.

Term paper and internship certificate

In addition to the internship certificate and the reference, the term paper is an integral part of the documents to be submitted. The term paper follows the usual regulations of the Faculty of Sociology with regard to scope and content and must be agreed with the mentor in advance. Further details can be found in the module handbook and any deviations can be discussed with the mentor. Below you will also find guidelines for preparing the internship report. As soon as you have completed your assignment, have it assessed by your mentor. In addition, you fill out the following internship certificate and give it to your mentor together with the report. Your mentor will confirm that you have passed the internship, including the assessment, on the internship certificate. Please note that you will receive the internship certificate and the report back.

Please find the guidelines for internship reports in Bachelor's degree programs "Leitfaden für Praktikumsberichte in Master-Studiengängen" and the document internship certificate "Praktikumsschein" attached below.

Submission of documents

In order for the internship module to be recognized, we require the complete documents, consisting of the completed internship certificate signed by the mentor, a confirmation from the employer/internship provider about your work, e.g. in the form of a reference (please only submit copies and not originals) and the term paper. (You can either send the complete documents by e-mail to pbuero@uni-bielefeld.de, hand them in personally during the open office hours (current office hours, see contact) or post them in the post box of the internship office (building X level C2 no.: 327; near the examination offices). The subsequent examination of the documents and booking by the Examinations Office usually takes two working weeks. If you need an urgent booking, please let us know.