6 ECTS credits
174 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4022162ENR 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
Taught in
Dutch
Faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
Department
Political Science
Educational team
Eline Severs (course titular)
Activities and contact hours

4 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
170 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

During the internship students get in contact with practitioners and have the opportunity of applying their academic knowledge and insights to the political praxis. While doing so, students develop a range of professional skills that will be relevant to their later careers, such as working in a team, project planning, presentation and reporting skills, etcetera.

Content-wise, the focus of the internship lies with ‘democracy and leadership’ but students can freely choose whether to do their internship in a local, national, European or international organization or institution. These institutions can be embedded within the formal realm of electoral democracy (such as parties, parliament, ministries, etcetera) or civil society more broadly defines (such as international organizations, INGOs, think thanks, grassroot movements, etcetera).

Students work minimally 148 hours during their internship, the equivalent of one month full-time. Students can work full-time for one month or part-time for a period of multiple months. It is students’ responsibility to obtain an internship position.

During their internship, students create a logbook in which they report on their internship activities. They write, in addition, an internship paper that takes the form of a policy paper. In this paper, students autonomously develop and address a policy-relevant problem in a scientific manner. They present this paper at the end of the academic term.

Students enrolled as working students cannot do an internship in the organization where they work.

Additional info

The content and deadlines of assignments are specified in the course syllabus on Canvas.

On Canvas, students can consult a list of literature references on how to write a good internship/policy paper. On Canvas, student can also consult guidelines for writing a good internship/policy paper.

Learning Outcomes

General Competences

Students:

  •      can use one or multiple theories treated during their education to clarify political praxis;
  •      understand the functioning of political organisation and institution, in particular the institution or organisation in which the internship took place;
  •      can autonomously reflect, in an analytical, nuanced and critical manner, on contemporary political issues and policy developments within the domain of the internship;
  •      develop the social skills relevant to professional life, such as, punctuality, working autonomously and working as a member of a team;
  •      can report critically on their own activities and development of knowledge and skills during their internship;
  •      can critically evaluate their internship position and activities and describe both positive and negative experiences in a correct and nuanced manner;
  •      develop a professional attitude; meaning that students learn to take on responsibility and be open to criticism and feedback;
  •      learn to be flexible and adapt to stressful situations.

Grading

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

Within the Practical Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Internship logbook with a relative weight of 30 which comprises 30% of the final mark.
  • Presentation Internship Paper with a relative weight of 10 which comprises 10% of the final mark.

    Note: cannot be retaken in the second examination session
  • Internship Paper with a relative weight of 40 which comprises 40% of the final mark.
  • Evaluation intern supervisor with a relative weight of 20 which comprises 20% of the final mark.

    Note: cannot be retaken in the second examination session

Additional info regarding evaluation

The evaluation is based on the following assignments:

  • Internship logbook, consisting of a short report of internship activities: 30%
  • Evaluation by internship supervisor: 20%
  • Internship paper: 40%
  • Presentation of internship paper: 10%

The internship cannot take place during the second examination session. The assignment “presentation internship paper” cannot be retaken in the second examination session. The first session result of this assignment will be transferred to the second examination session. The results of the assignments “logbook” and “internship paper” will, when the first session result is minimally 10/20, be transferred to the second examination session.

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 Political Science: Democracy and Leadership (only offered in Dutch)