Traineeship

During the traineeship (external training) you apply your knowledge that you acquired in your master’s programme, working at a company or institution. The purpose is to work under circumstances resembling the situation after your graduation as much as possible. Included in this working experience is also the process of finding a position and a short application procedure. The traineeship has a study load of 20 EC and will last at least 14 weeks. At the moment of the start of your traineeship you should have obtained 45 EC of your course programme.

Organization

The following persons and organizations play a role during your traineeship:

·	The host organization, which is the company or institution where you will carry out the traineeship. The host organization assigns a staff member who will supervise your work.

The Educational Supervisor is a lecturer of your master’s programme. He/she will monitor the scientific level of your traineeship. The Educational Supervisor should give approval to the traineeship before you make your final appointments with the host organization. After the traineeship, he/she will carry out the final assessment and decide about the mark.

·	The traineeship office, which consists of the traineeship coordinator and the mediator. They will supervise the student from the beginning of the searching process finding a position until the end of the traineeship, when the last documents should be archived.

Options for a traineeship

Many students find a traineeship position at a company, but also an institution or university is possible. A traineeship can be done everywhere in the world; in Enschede but also in New Zealand or somewhere in between. “The sky is the limit”, unless you manage to find a position with NASA or ESA as an astronaut. The only place on earth definitely out of scope is the UT itself. In all cases, the host institute should provide an assignment that must be approved by the educational supervisor. Approval will only be given if the assignment has sufficient academic level.

How to find a position

One might distinguish three ways to find a host institute:

1.	The database of the traineeship office: the office maintains databases containing companies and experience reports. These reports are written by students and describe their experiences during the traineeship.

2.	A lecturer in a chair (research group): during research, lecturers often cooperate with companies and institutions that might also be willing to provide a traineeship position.

3.	On your own: it is possible and allowed to find a traineeship position on your own. Many companies offer traineeship positions on their websites. Finding a position in this way may not be easy but it may lead to a surprising and rewarding traineeship.

In all cases the traineeship must be approved by a lecturer before you make your final appointments with the host institute. This is described above.

Information sessions

Twice a year information sessions are held about the traineeship, in September and April. You can find them in the timetables of the master’s programmes.

First contact

Make an appointment with the traineeship mediator (mobility-eemcs@utwente.nl) if you start to think about a traineeship. During this meeting, the procedure will be discussed and a planning will be made for the preparation, the traineeship itself and the completion after return. See your mediator at least six months before you plan to go. After this meeting, the Blackboard site with training positions will be opened for you.

Web references

Static information: http://www.ewi.utwente.nl/en/education/external_training/

Blackboard site with training position database: http://blackboard.utwente.nl.

Traineeship Coördinator

Dr. M.J. (Maarten) Korsten

Room: Zilverling 1022; Phone: 053 489 2763; E-mail: m.j.korsten@ewi.utwente.nl

Traineeship Mediator

Ms. B. (Belinda) Jaarsma

Room: Zilverling 1018; Phone: 053 489 3887; E-mail: mobility-eemcs@utwente.nl