Internships

The University of Parma promotes curricular internships in order to facilitate professional choices through direct knowledge of the world of work and the realisation of moments of alternation between study and work.
The internship and final examination consist of the design and execution of a research project aimed at testing a relevant scientific hypothesis in the field of ecology, ethology, evolution or conservation. Under the supervision of the internal supervisor, the thesis work involves bibliographical analysis, data collection and processing to be carried out in a laboratory within the University or in an external public or private, Italian or foreign, body with an agreement with the University of Parma. The results achieved are presented in three separate seminars (see detailed description below).
 

Internship Procedure

The internship/final examinations require the activation of a Training Project, which must be activated online on the Esse3 platform. Full information on activation of internships can be found HERE.
The internship procedure must be formalised well in advance of the graduation date, bearing in mind that the ECTS credits for the internship itself and the final examination amount to 33 and that the number of hours spent on these activities is high (25 hours per ECTS credit). The number of hours includes all internship activities (thesis study, field, laboratory or data analysis activities, thesis writing and seminar preparation).
Dates for the start and end of the internship should be agreed between the professor or representatives of the institution where the internship takes place and the student. It is required that the start date be at least 15 days after the presentation of the internship project so that the internship office has the material time to start the procedure. It is suggested that the end date of the internship be set 15-20 days before the student's expected graduation date so that accident insurance cover is extended to the last activities.
The student has the option of carrying out the internship INTERNALLY or EXTERNALLY to the University and the procedures for activating the internship must be completed online on the ESSE3 platform. Before activating the online procedure, the student must contact a professor of the degree course who will be the internal supervisor of the thesis and make arrangements regarding the conduct of the internship.
The activation of the Training Project takes place as follows.

INTERNSHIP WITH AN INTERNAL FACILITY (ITS - internal traineeship)

Course professors have the option of offering/arranging training internships by uploading the relevant projects in ESSE3. In this case, the professors act as the University of Parma's COMPANY REFERENCE and are to all intents and purposes the thesis supervisors. The student must then select on ESSE3 from those offered the training internship of his or her interest or identify the one he or she has agreed in advance with a professor.  During the course unit selection phase, the student must at the same time indicate an ACADEMIC TUTOR for the degree course (for the degree course in Ecology and Ethology in Nature Conservation: Prof. Alessandro Petraglia or Prof. Stefano Leonardi) who, after examining the congruence of the course project with the objectives of the degree course, will approve it. With the approval of the academic tutor and the final visa of the GUIDANCE, PLACEMENT AND INTERNSHIP Unit, the internship officially begins.

INTERNSHIP WITH AN EXTERNAL FACILITY (STA - in-company internship) agreed with the external body

In order for the student to carry out the training internship in a facility outside the university (including abroad outside international mobility programmes), the external body must be accredited on the ESSE3 platform. Once accredited, the external body can upload training projects, which can be nominal (for a specific student) or open to all. In the case of nominal training projects, the internship offer will be visible to the student under the 'My internship' menu item. Also in this case, during the phase of choosing the training project, the student must at the same time indicate an ACADEMIC TUTOR of the degree course (for the CdS in Ecology and Ethology in Nature Conservation: Prof. Alessandro Petraglia or Prof. Stefano Leonardi) who, after examining the congruence of the training project with the objectives of the degree course, will approve it. With the approval of the academic tutor and the final visa of the GUIDANCE, PLACEMENT AND INTERNSHIP Units, the internship officially begins.
N.B.: in this case, the procedure does not currently provide for the name of the professor who will act as internal thesis supervisor to be entered, but, as mentioned above, the student must nevertheless contact a professor available to perform this role in advance. 

ERASMUS/OVERWORLD INTERNATIONAL MOBILITY INTERNSHIPS (STE - traineeship abroad)

For Erasmus internships, please contact and follow the instructions of the Erasmus Office and the Department's Erasmus Officers. For other Overworld international internships contact and follow the directions of the internship office. For further information please contact Prof. Marco Bartoli (e.mail: marco.bartoli@unipr.it, tel. 0521 905048).

PROCEDURE FOR PROFESSORS

Professors of the Degree Course can:
1) Agree on an internship/thesis and training project with a student. They will then upload the Training Project as a COMPANY REFERENCE (special login and password credentials are required) on Esse3 under the menu item "Start internship with known student" to indicate the registration number of the student who will participate in the Training Project.
2) Offer an open opportunity, i.e. without the student's name. The professor will upload the training project as a COMPANY REFERENCE on Esse3 under the menu item "New Offer" without, of course, giving the name of the student.