Internship, MA Computer Science --- TRAN-F-501 ---
Maarten Jansen
2024--2025
Overview
Objectives
Organisation and responsibilities
Timeline and forms
Deadlines MUST be STRICTLY observed. In particular: the actual internship MUST
take place in the months July-August-September, preceeding your
Master-2
What should be the final report and presentation
FAQ
Links and slides
Objectives
15 ECTS
Provide the student with a full-time three-months experience in the
computer science career field by working with a participating employing firm,
organization or academic research center. The student will be supervised by a
faculty member acting as a liaison between the University and the employing
organization to ensure compliance with specific learning and experience
requirements. The employment can be either in Belgium or abroad, and normally
would include practical experience.
Period
Very important: if you want your internship to be evaluated within the
framework of the course TRAN-F-501, it MUST take place in the summer months
between Ma-1 and Ma-2. In particular, if you think of adding TRAN-F-501 to your
individual program (PAE) at the beginning of Ma-2 (September-October), you are
FAR TOO LATE. Once again: TOO LATE. No exceptions.
Eligibility
Given the overlap between the internship calendar and the second exam session,
only students having preferably no exams in the second session are
eligible for the internship. There is a strict, non-negotiable minimum of 45
validated ECTS in June.
If a students starts an internship procedure and after the first
sessions he or she turns out not to be elgible any longer, all existing
agreements are automatically declined.
Organisation and responsibilities
Internship actors
There are four main actors of the internship process.
-
The Student, enrolled in the first year of the Master of Computer Science and
registered in the Faculty of Sciences.
-
The Academic Supervisor, i.e. a member of the professor staff teaching courses
(mandatory or optional) in the ULB CS Master.
-
The Host Company Supervisor, i.e. the legal representative of the organization
hosting the student for the internship.
-
The Computer Science Internship Coordinator(s)
(in 2024, 2026: M. Jansen,
in 2025, 2027: G. Bontempi)
Student responsibilities
-
Actively search for an internship opportunity, by contacting directly
employing organizations, academic supervisors and searching in repository with
internship offers
(e.g. here).
Meet with an academic supervisor to discuss the internship and the
pedagogical content.
-
Once an agreement between the student, the Host Company and the academic
supervisor is found, submit a brief job description, statement of educational
goals, and a list of objectives to accomplish those goals to Computer Science
Internship Coordinators. For details on the deadlines and the format of the
description, see the section “Schedule and forms”.
-
Have the Internship Agreement
(convention de stage; see below: timeline and forms)
signed by the Host Company Supervisor, the Student and submit it to the Faculty
of Sciences and the Computer Science Internship Coordinators.
-
Write bi-weekly reports indicating the advance of the job and specifying
which of the objectives and goals have been accomplished. These reports should
be delivered by email to the Academic Supervisor.
-
Write a mid-term summary report. This should be validated and signed
both by the Academic supervisor and the Host Company Supervisor and sent to the
Computer Science Internship Coordinator at the end of the 6th week of the
internship.
-
Write a summary report at the end of the internship describing the
experience and objectives addressing the achievement of goals. This should be
validated and signed both by the Academic supervisor and the Host Company
Supervisor and sent to the Computer Science Internship Coordinator at the end
of the internship.
-
Invite the academic and company supervisors to attend the final presentation
of the internship.
Academic Supervisor responsibilities
-
Meet with student to discuss internship and approve or disapprove internship.
-
Validate the pedagogical content and the objectives of the internship proposal.
-
Take care of the possible intellectual property issues related to the
internship.
-
Advise student while performing internship and ensure that the deadlines are
respected.
-
Inform immediately the internship coordinator in case of major problems.
-
Validate and sign intermediate and final reports.
-
Take part to the final interview to assess the internship and assign final
grade.
Host Company Supervisor responsibilities
-
Define together with the student and the academic supervisor the pedagogical
and technical objectives of the internship.
-
Assist the student in describing his/her duties, goals and objectives.
-
Inform the student of the conduct rules of the organization.
-
Verify that student has been performing the duties as set forth in the goals
and objectives.
-
Verify that the Host Company shall under no circumstances require the student
to undertake tasks not within the scope of his training.
-
Validate and sign intermediate and final reports.
-
Fill intermediate and final evaluation grids.
-
Inform immediately the Academic Supervisor in case of major problems.
-
Take part to the final interview to assess the internship and assign final
grade.
Internship Coordinator responsibilities
-
Inform the student about the schedule and finalities of the internship.
-
Keep contacts with the Faculty of Sciences.
-
Manage the
repository of internship offers.
-
Keep track of the student reports.
-
Ensure that the deadlines are respected.
-
Organize the final evaluation (in December).
Timeline and forms
Deadlines MUST be STRICTLY observed
If a deadline appears to be in the weekend, then action should be taken by
Friday, 16h00 (4:00 pm)
(The observation of deadlines, being a daily practice in a real working
environment, is also considered part of the pedagogical objectives of this
course; failing to meet important deadline may thus result in lower grades)
- From February:
MA1 students start looking actively for internship
opportunities, by contacting external organizations, academic supervisor or
consulting data banks containing internship offers (e.g. the ULB CS
repository of internship offers.)
- Before the end of May:
students submit a brief job description,
statement of educational goals, and a list of objectives to accomplish those
goals to Computer Science Internship Coordinators by using
this form.
- Before the 7th of June:
students submit the Internship Agreement
(convention de stage)
signed by the Student and the Host Company Supervisor to
the Faculty of Sciences and to the Computer Science Internship Coordinators
(In practice: hand in 3 signed copies to the student office, M. Peetrooms)
- After the first exam session:
in case of non eligibility of the student
(still more than 15 ECTS to pass in the second session) the internship is
cancelled and previous agreements are declined.
- Between July 1 and August 8:
the eligible student is
required to start the internship in the premises of the external organization.
An official communication of the start of the internship has to be sent to the
Computer Science Internship Coordinators.
Please, send a mail to the Internship Coordinator, informing him about your
precise starting date
(even if this information has been filled in correctly on the forms)
- 7th week after the starting date:
the mid-term summary report together
with the evaluation grid,
both validated and signed by the Host Company Supervisor and the Academic
Supervisor are submitted to the Internship Coordinator.
- 13th week after the starting date (and before the November 1):
the final summary report together with the
evaluation grid, both validated and
signed by the Host Company Supervisor and the Academic Supervisor is submitted
to the Internship Coordinator.
- December, two last weeks before Xmas:
final interviews and
assignment of grade. The assessment of the student will be done after a
presentation of the student (strict maximum of 10mins)
in front of a committee composed of the
Internship Coordinators, the Academic Supervisor and the Host Company
Supervisor.
What should be the final report and presentation:
-
A presentation of an internship is NOT a master's thesis presentation
-
So, explain what you have been doing, but not too many technical details
-
More emphasis is in self-reflection and self-evaluation
-
Input:
What have been the skills obtained in your education that you could use for the
internship
-
Output
What are the skills that you have acquired during this internship
What has been your contribution to the company?
-
Has the internship had any impact on your idea of what is the job of a computer
scientist
-
Have you had experience in time management/have you been able to deal with
deadlines
(Make sure to manage the reports, fullfulling the administration + making
reports is part of the learning process)
The presentation should be no longer than 20 minutes
The academic supervisor and the host company supervisor(s) are welcome to
attend, but presence is not mandatory.
The student is responsible to invite the supervisors.
-
Which organizations are eligible for hosting internships?
In principle all organizations (Belgian and non) which hire students with a
Master degree of Computer Science are eligible. Research labs of universities
(other than ULB) are eligible too for hosting internships. In any case the
academic supervisor is the final responsible for assessing the adequacy of
the external organization with respect to the pedagogical objectives of the
Master in Computer Science.
-
What if the dates of the internship do not comply with the above schedule?
Short answer: In that case the internship cannot be accepted.
The program of the Master in Computer Science allows for an internship in the
first three months of the first semester of the second year. Internships with
are supposed to end after the 5th of November are not acceptable. It is
allowed, however, that the internship starts a few days before the 1st of July.
-
Is a financial retribution or compensation of student foreseen?
The aim of the internship is to provide a working experience to the student as
a part of the pedagogical process. The university will not reimburse any
expenses (transport, ...), related to the internship. Personal agreements
between the student and the external organization are possible, though they
will not be taken into consideration by the Internship agreement.
In other terms ULB should not be considered liable for any issue concerning
the student retribution.
-
Are there any grants or programs for internships abroad?
Yes there are, but keep in mind that they come with additional deadlines.
Though no financial support is provided by ULB, students may apply for an
ERASMUS Placement funding in case of an internship abroad.
Details can be found
here. You might contact the
Erasmus internship
coordinator.
Please submit the form in due time
AND inform the departemental
Erasmus coordinator (Prof. Tom Leenaerts)
-
I have a second session. Can I still start the internship?
Short answer: no, unless the exams in the second session amount to 15 ECTS
or less.
The internship is supposed to be full-time and to start before the second
session. In order to avoid major conflicts between exams and the internship,
we adopt the following eligibility rule: students having a second session
with a total load of no more than 15 ECTS are allowed to start the internship.
For students having more than 15 ECTS, the internship is cancelled and all
existing agreements are considered void.
-
Can the internship topic be related to the Master thesis topic?
Yes, it can. However the grade of the internship will be given before
(in December) and independently of the Master thesis grade.
-
What if the company proposes its own contracts instead of the internship
agreement?
The internship agreement (convention de stage) is
mandatory.
Students may sign other documents in their own name, but academic supervisors
or the course coordinator cannot sign any other documents provided by
companies.
This page is maintained by Maarten Jansen
(maarten.jansen-AT-ulb.be)
URL: https://maarten.jansen.web.ulb.be/teaching/TRAN-F-501/index.html