6 ECTS credits
162 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
2 contact hours Lecture
2 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
158 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 120 hours during their internship, the equivalent of three weeks full-time (15 days). Students can work full-time for three weeks or part-time for a longer period (for the equivalent of 120 hours). It is students’ responsibility to obtain an internship position and to register the internship in a timely manner. Deadlines are announced at the start of the academic year.

During their internship, students create a logbook in which they report on their internship activities. At the end of their internship, students submit an internship report.

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.

Teaching load (162 uur)

  • Lecture: 2 hours
    • Introductory lecture at the start of the academic year: 2 hours
  • Practical teaching format: 2 hours
    • Attending a group meeting on the internship report: 2 hours
  • Self: 158 hours
    • Prior to the internship (8 hours)
      • Finding an internship position, and finalising the internship agreement: 8 hours
    • During the internship (126 hours)
      • Internship of 15 days: 15 x 8 hours = 120 hours
      • Creation of a logbook of internship activities: 2 hours
      • Preliminary feedback conversation with internship supervisor: 2 hours
      • Concluding evaluative conversation with internship supervisor: 2 hours
    • After the internship(24 hours)
      • Writing up the internship report: 3 x 8 hours = 24 hours
Learning Outcomes

General Competences

Students:

  • 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:

  • Evaluation intern supervisor with a relative weight of 40 which comprises 40% of the final mark.

    Note: cannot be retaken in the second examination session
  • Internship Report with a relative weight of 60 which comprises 60% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

The evaluation is based on the following categories:

  • Evaluation by internship supervisor (40% of final grade), based on an evaluation template (see Canvas)
  • Evaluation by course instructor (60% of final grade), based on an internship report (for instructions, see Canvas)

Both evaluation categories are scored on /20 and together make up the final grade. Students can only pass this course when they obtain minimally 10/20 for each evaluation category.

Students are responsible for their work and must adhere to the faculty guidelines on plagiarism. Plagiarism will be sanctioned in accordance with the university educational and exam regulations.

The internship cannot take place during the second examination session (August). The first session result of the evaluation by the internship supervisor will be transferred to the second examination session. Should students fail to submit their internship report during the first session or receive a grade lower than 10/20, they can (re)submit their internship report during the second exam session (August).

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)