3	Preparation

3.1	Study phase and duration

The assignment period for the final Bachelor’s assignment is at the end of the bachelor education, whereas a work placement for the Master’s education (in general) takes place at the beginning of the second course year. The duration varies per programme, and is at least nine weeks long. Also, the demands from the various programmes regarding the courses and assignments that have to be finalised before the start of the external project differ. Check with the the co-ordinator what the specific information is about the place in the curriculum, which courses have to be completed before actually starting the external project, and the duration of the project.

3.2	Registration

As mentioned before, most of the UT departments now use the Student Mobility System (SMS: https://webapps.utwente.nl/srs/nl/srsservlet) for the registration of the students who need to do an external project. However, please be aware that each department has slight differences in their enrolment times. Sometimes registration is required to be as early as a year before the actual start date. After your registration you will have an intake interview with your co-ordinator who will talk with you about the best way forward.

In some cases a member of the scientific staff can arrange an external project for you (or has arranged this for you) before registration in the SMS. Even in this case you need to inform your co-ordinator through the registration form.

The co-ordinator will need to be informed about your study results and study plans during the discussion about your prospective external project.

3.3	Confirmation of external project

Although external projects are not handled in the same way in the various faculties, it is generally stated that you need to take care that you receive written confirmation (this can be an e-mail) of your external project. Your co-ordinator can inform you about what is acceptable to your faculty. In every case you need to keep your co-ordinator fully informed about all agreements.

3.4	Going abroad

Many students do their external project abroad. You can find a lot of information on http://www.wilweg.nl and http://intoffice.utwente.nl. However, if you consider doing your external project abroad, you need to take note of the following:

·

Since it is sometimes more difficult to gain access into a foreign company than into a Dutch company, it might be useful to use an employment (mediation) agency. You can find a list of those agencies on http://www.wilweg.nl/. However, in those cases where an external organisation mediates for the trainee post, the co-ordinator will not always be able to exert influence on the level of the assignment and therefore cannot guarantee the acceptance of the assignment by the programme. In order to avoid any disappointment you should consult your co-ordinator during the mediation procedure. Bear in mind that even if an international network nominates you for a certain trainee post, it might still happen that the employer does not accept you on the basis of your elective courses. Another annoying aspect that sometimes occurs is that the offered trainee post is withdrawn at the last moment (without any explanation).

·

Prepare yourself well for your stay abroad by reading about the culture of the people. To do so you can take a look at the pages of Amnesty International www.amnesty.nl, as the website has plenty of information about various countries. We also advise you to carefully read the advice given in a decent travel guide, such as the ‘Lonely Planet’ or the ‘Rough Guide’ of the country of your choice. See http://www.lonelyplanet.com or http://www.roughguides.com.

·

Make sure that you will be able to express yourself in English and preferably also a little in the local language . For information about language courses go to the Language Co-ordination Centre. Sometimes it is possible to enroll on language courses for Socrates/ Erasmus students in the country that you will be visiting. You can find information about this with your co-ordinator or at the International Office.

·	The costs of going abroad can be considerably higher than is the case for a Dutch assignment. Grants are available (see chapter 6), but will not always cover all costs incured.

·	Take care to be in time to arrange that you will receive a monthly allowance instead of your OV-student card. For this purpose you can find forms on the web pages of the IB-Group and the Bureau Student Deans in the Bastille building.

·	Be well insured (see chapter 6).

·	Consult www.minbuza.nl and note the address of the Dutch Embassy in the country where you will be doing your external project. Take good note of any travel advice that they may give you.

·	You can find a lot of useful information about working abroad on http://www.labourmobility.com

·	If you are abroad in the period that you should re-enroll at the UT, take care to ensure that someone else is authorized to do so for you.

·	Make sure that you leave plenty of time to check if you need to change your address at the IBG.

3.5	Supervision by the UT

Before actually starting the external project, the assignment is discussed with the co-ordinator and a UT supervisor is contacted. The UT supervisor can give you advice about your proposed work plan and relevant literature. At the end (s) he will assess the assignment through both the report, the assessment of the mentor (see 4.3) and possibly a final discussion.

3.6	Agreement - Contract

Before departure it is necessary that you have a document (this can either be an agreement / contract or a letter / e-mail), in which it is stated that you are allowed to do the assignment at the company / institute / university concerned. Please make sure that your co-ordinator receives a copy of this document.

Some of the employers ask you to sign a written agreement before starting your assignment. In general it will contain the information about working hours, insurance and allowance. In some cases you will have to sign a declaration of confidentiality in which you declare that you will not disclose information to others.

Appendix 6 contains models for an agreement, both in Dutch and English. You can use this appendix when contacting your prospective work place. All subjects relevant to an external training are mentioned in this model.

If there are reasons for you for ending your external project prematurely, you will have to consult your co-ordinator. If you fail to do so, this can have consequences for the assessment of your external project.

3.7

Exemption

Students who think that they are eligible for exemption of the external project, on the basis of a preparatory study or else (completed another programme, sufficient relevant work experience) must contact the co-ordinator. After consultation usually a ’request for exemption’ stating one’s reasons must be prepared. The co-ordinator or the student (depending on the programme) will present this request together with advice to the Examination Committee of the programme. If the programme agrees with the exemption, the student will receive a written statement confirming their exemption.