Internships

The University of Parma promotes curricular traineeships in order to facilitate professional choices through direct knowledge of the world of work and the realisation of moments of school-work alternation.
The curricular internship integrates and completes the students' curriculum by giving them the chance to perform practical activities which may be carried out in structures within the University or externally at qualified public and private bodies with which the University has entered into appropriate agreements, on the basis of the provisions of the respective degree course regulations.

The placement involves three parties: the student, the promoter (the University of Parma) and the host (company or organisation) where the activity is carried out under the guidance of a university tutor, a University professor and a company supervisor.
Curricular internships are not a prerequisite for an employment relationship between the student and the host structure, nor can they be a substitute for company labour or professional services.

The way in which internship and final examination activities are carried out and ECTS credits are awarded is regulated as follows: the Master's degree in Molecular Biology requires students, during the final year of the degree course, to complete their training through an internship of 6 ECTS credits and the performance of the dissertation (known as the final examination: 27 ECTS credits). The internship is aimed at acquiring the necessary skills for the use of experimental methodologies and the ability to develop an experimental protocol. The internship period may be preparatory to the dissertation performance, which consists in the design and execution of an original experimental study, under the guidance of one or more degree course professors, to be carried out at a university laboratory or at an external public or private, Italian or foreign, institution with an agreement with the University.
The internship/final examination activity requires the activation of an Internship Project. The student must proceed with the project activation via the ESSE 3 online procedure. The other interlocutors (UNIVERSITY, EXTERNAL COMPANY) also manage exclusively online the part of their own competence relating to the signing of training projects and the management of the recognition of internship periods carried out by the student as indicated on the website.

PROCEDURE FOR STUDENTS

The activation of the Training Project can be carried out in different ways.

Internship/thesis at a facility of the University of Parma agreed upon with a faculty member.

At least 15 days before the start date of the internship/thesis, the student must fill out the Internship/Thesis Activity Start Communication Form and send it to the Company Referents Prof. Angelo Bolchi and Prof. Roberto Ferrari.

The Company Referent will compile the training project in ESSE3. Then, again in Esse3, the student will have to choose the proposed Academic Tutor (Prof. Angelo Bolchi) and accept the training project.

With the subsequent approval by the Academic Tutor and the final endorsement by the UOS Orientation Placement and Internships, the commencement process will be concluded.

 
Internship/thesis at external institution agreed with the external institution.

This mode requires the external institution to have registered, applied for the agreement, entered the name of the Academic Tutor, and initiated the internship/thesis with known student and entered the training project.

The student must indicate the Academic Tutor, a faculty member in the Genomic and Cellular Biomolecular Sciences major with specific expertise in the area of the internship/thesis project, who has made himself or herself available to serve in this role and who will assess the suitability of the training project.

With the subsequent approval by the Academic Tutor and the final endorsement by the Placement and Internship Orientation UOS, the initiation process will be concluded.

 
Application for Internship Opportunity/Open Thesis

The student can browse on ESSE3 the opportunities offered by faculty of our University or external companies/bodies and apply for that position.

1. In the case of offers from a faculty member of our University, the student must indicate the proposed Academic Tutor (Prof. Angelo Bolchi) and accept the training project.

With the subsequent approval by the Academic Tutor and the final endorsement by the UOS Orientation Placement and Internships, the commencement process will be concluded.

2. In the case of offers from an external company or entity, the student must indicate the Academic Tutor, a faculty member of the Course of Study in Genomic and Cellular Biomolecular Sciences with specific expertise in the field of the internship/thesis project, who has made himself/herself available to carry out this role and who will assess the suitability of the training project.

With the subsequent approval by the Academic Tutor and the final endorsement by the Placement and Internship Orientation UOS, the inception process will be concluded.

 
Internship/thesis in international mobility

For internships in international mobility, interested parties are invited to contact and follow the directions of the Internationalization O.U. and the members of the International Mobility Commission (Prof. Elena Maestri and Alessandro Petraglia, Erasmus referents; Prof. Marco Bartoli, Overworld and extra-European initiatives referent) of the Department of Chemical, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability.

The student will have to choose the Academic Tutor, a professor of the Course of Study in Genomic and Cellular Biomolecular Sciences with specific expertise in the field of the internship/thesis project, who has made himself or herself available to carry out this role and who will assess the adequacy of the training project agreed with the foreign structure (University, research institution, company) at which he or she will carry out the internship.

Upon completion of the internship abroad, where the foreign university does not include an official record with grade and number of credits in the Transcript of Records, the student must provide a letter on letterhead from the contact professor of the foreign facility where the internship took place, so as to certify attendance and learning outcomes.

Procedure for intership termination

The closure of the internship/thesis period occurs automatically on the expiration date of the same or upon request by the student via the Esse3 platform. Once the internship is closed, the student must complete, again on Esse3, the Internship Evaluation Questionnaire, which is essential for the Academic Tutor's verbalization of the internship and the inclusion of CFUs in the career.

In the case of an internship/thesis at an external company or institution, the student must ask the Tutor who followed him/her during the internship to complete the Internship Evaluation Form and email it to the Academic Tutor.

In the case of internship/thesis abroad, the student should ask the Tutor who followed him/her during the internship to fill out the Internship evaluation form and email it to the Academic Tutor.

Extension, suspension and discontinuation of the Internship

The student who has started the internship/thesis period can request extension, suspension or interruption of the internship/thesis period through the Esse3 platform according to the methods and procedures described in the Student Practice Guide.

Dissertations of former students

In the attached file you will find a list of all dissertations conducted by former students of this degree course.