Università degli Studi di Bergamo

FABIO PREVIDI

HEInnovate workshop

Internship and practice-based learning

at the University of Bergamo

Sofia – September 26th, 2014

Internship @ UniBGUniversità degli Studi di Bergamo

Summary

1. Heinnovate # 5 (focus on students)

2. Bulgaria National Review

3. The University of Bergamo internship system

o principles

o main actors

o process

o key factors for success

o numbers

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Internship @ UniBGUniversità degli Studi di Bergamo

A starting point: Heinnovate # 5

5. University – Business/external relationships

for knowledge exchange

Focus on students (non doctoral)

5.4 (i) clear incentives with removal of administrative barriers

5.5 (ii) mobility needs to be incentivised and facilitated

(iii) accompanying services during the internship

(iv) opportunities to think about the experience / sharing with other students

(v) a centralized support service

(vi) contact person for mobility at the Faculty level

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Internship @ UniBGUniversità degli Studi di Bergamo

National Review Bulgaria: major difficulties

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� Difficulties in finding internships. The places offered by the career centre

do not match demand. When searching on their own for internship places,

many students encountered situations where firms said “we sign an

internship report for you, but we are not interested in having you as

intern”.

� Lack of support during internships. Only students who found an

internship through their professors had a contact person to reach out

during the internship for advice.

� Little relevance of internship experience. Internships are not an integral

part of education as there is no reflection of relevance of the internship

experience in class. Students talk about their experiences in extra

curricula activities or in their free time, but not in class. This leaves little

room for embedding practical learning experiences in the curriculum.

Internship @ UniBGUniversità degli Studi di Bergamo

Internship @ UniBg – The principles

5

University of Bergamo developed a continuous dialogue with

labour market, including companies and organization, in order to:

• promote high quality internships

• design specific personal projects for each candidate

• matching companies needs with each student skills and

abilities in a win-win framework

Internship @ UniBGUniversità degli Studi di Bergamo

Internship @ UniBg – The actors

6

Internship/placement

Office

Operating unit

Internship/placement

Board

(Faculty&students)

Strategic thrust

CompanyStudents

Web portal Web portal

agreement

Faculty

(company tutor)

(academic tutor)

Defined in the

personal

project

Defined in the

personal

project

1

2 34

5

6

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Internship @ UniBGUniversità degli Studi di Bergamo

Internship @ UniBg – The process (I)

Assignment - Personal project design

o Joint work by student, company tutor, academic tutor

o Based on a well defined job reference role

o Job/teaching activities are clearly detailed

o Clear expected outcome of the teaching activity

o Definition of the supervision (milestones, periodic meetings, reports,…)

o Approved by the Internship office

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Web based

Internship @ UniBGUniversità degli Studi di Bergamo

Internship @ UniBg – The process (II)

Development – Process supervision and evaluation

o Variable duration (typically from 2 to 12 months)

o Milestones (meetings, intermediate reports,…)

o Detailed timesheet (approved by the tutors)

o Final report (approved by the tutors)

o Assessement (anonymous questionnaire by student and company tutor)

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Web based

Internship @ UniBGUniversità degli Studi di Bergamo

Internship @ UniBg – The success key factors

• Internships are mandatory in the student program

• The process is centralized and web-based («before» and «during»)

• The actors (and their duty/role) are well defined

• Accurate definition and careful writing of the internship project

• Companies are aware of their role in the teaching experience (and

of the benefit they can get from it)

• Company spontaneous proposals and picking activity by the

internship office

• A formal agreement between UniBg and the company is signed

once for all

• «Excellence» internships (example Law Faculty)

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Internship @ UniBGUniversità degli Studi di Bergamo

Internship @ UniBg – Numbers (I)

• 1340 active agreements with companies and institutions

• ~ 1500 internships per year (steadily increasing)

• ~ 250 active academic tutors

• ~ 100 international internships per year (non doctoral)

• 15 excellence internships in 2013

• ~ 350 non-curricular internships per year

• Results of the companies assessment (91% highly satisfied)

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Internship @ UniBGUniversità degli Studi di Bergamo 11

Internship @ UniBg – Numbers (II)

2012/13

Internship @ UniBGUniversità degli Studi di Bergamo

Internship @ UniBg – Numbers (III)

12

2012/13

NON-curricular

internships

Thank You!