GUIDES TO THE UNIVERSITY

All Master of Science programs include an internship/apprenticeship/training (from now internship) or similar activity in the program requirements, classified as compulsory educational activities. Internships are worth from 6 to 10 credit points depending on the program structure of the MSc Program (see Program Structures of MSc Programs).

It is possible to participate in other internship experiences, during your studies or after graduation, which do not have curricular value and for which the information in the paragraphs and sections is not applied: "Duration", "Positioning", "Interniship recognition - Authorization in advance and final validation", "Other activities recognized in lieu of internships".

Curricular internships must satisfy the following characteristics with reference to duration, objectives and contents, location and positioning.

Duration
Minimum 12 full-time weeks, in Italy;
Minimum 10 full-time weeks, abroad.

In particular circumstances, subject to the prior approval from the Master of Science Program Director, a part-time internship could be considered an option. However, it must last at least 16 weeks in Italy or abroad.

The number of weeks must be understood as continuous and non-cumulative, in agreement with the University a period of temporary suspension of the internship experience (such as closing of the company, national holiday) to be recovered at the end of the internship if it affects the minimum duration of the internship.

Objectives and contents

The internship is an in-the-field training experience and not a labour contract whose regulations are valid in Italy and are set by the law* and by the University.
The main objective of internships is to educate. They allow students to acquire work  and professional experience while developing professional skills. They help students get their bearings in these areas, facilitating their professional choices. Students acquire  direct knowledge of the continuously evolving world of work. The  contents of the internship must be consistent with the educational objectives of the student's MSc program.  The in the field experience include a company tutor (professional expert) supporting the students.
*24 June 1997 no. 196 art. 18 and the decree of 25 March 1998, no. 142 and Interdepartmental Decree of 22 March 2006 Official Journal no. 159 of 11 July 2006

Location
Internships may take place - in Italy and abroad - in firms, public and private institutions, professional studios, international organisms, diplomatic agencies, cultural institutions and other organizations.
Internships held on the premises of the participant's family property are not accepted.

Positioning
Students may participate in internships during their second year.
Students may participate in an internship only after completing first-year courses.
Internshipis registered in students' academic careers as a second-year educational activity. However it is possible, as an exception, to participate in an  internship in advance:

• in the first year, following the normal authorization and validation procedures which are described below; however, internship activities must not clash with classroom activities;
• before enrolment in MSc programs but after the undergraduate degree; in this case there are various authorization and validation procedures (see paragraph 5.4)

In both cases, the internship will be registered in the student's academic career as a first-year educational activity.

Università Bocconi recognizes internships organized by any of the following parties:

• Markets and External Affairs Division (see information below)
• MSc Program Direction
• students can have internships found via their own channels recognized, at highly qualified companies by filling out the appropriate online form. In this case, the Master of Science Program Director will carefully monitor the internship request.

Markets and External Affairs Division promotes and makes available the internship opportunities in Italy and abroad through:

• JobGate: a platform which is updated daily with internship and work opportunities reserved to Bocconi students;
• Internship Programs in companies, Chamber of Commerce, foreign Consulates in Milan, International Institutions, non-government organizations, Italian Permanent Representatives abroad;
• Arts and Culture International Program: a program offering internship opportunities at cultural institutions;
• Speciale Stage Curriculari (Curricular Internship Magazine): magazine published every six months including internship opportunities offered by companies which adhere to the Programmi Partner e Imprese Associate of the University
• Bocconi & Jobs, the University's semi-annual career fair which allows Bocconi students to meet with numerous companies and institutions from all sectors;
• Company presentations in the University: companies present themselves and describe their programs for hiring potential candidates; the calendar for presentations is fixed every six months.

 

Whatever channel is used to find an internship, the host company or organization in Italy and Bocconi sign an internship agreement and a training and orientation project on the objectives and contents of the internship via the JobGate. As the promoter of the initiative, the University will prepare all the necessary legal documentation, check the quality of the training projects, and provide insurance coverage.
Students must always contact the Internship Office well in advance and in any case before starting the internship in order to formalize the internship through the documentation above.

 

Before starting a curricular internship, the student must access the course Stage si parte! available on Bocconi e-learning platform within Extracurricular courses and pass the final test.

It is also valid for internships carried out in Offices and Departments of the University which must be formalized through a training project prepared by the Università Bocconi Pesonnel Staff Office.
Also internships abroad are run by internship agreement and a relating training project. However internships without such documentation can be run with an internship contract or other document demonstrating practice educational experience according with the local laws where the internship experience is held. Internships which are not provided with such documentation cannot be recognised as internship.

At the end of the internship the following documentation is required:

• Evaluation form filled out by the student via the yoU@B student Diary;
• End of internship report by the student via the yoU@B student Diary (only for internships carried out abroad);
• evaluation form of the company tutor sent by the Internship Office via email through the appropriate link when the internship starts.
• Certification of internship completion given by the company tutor.

All internship experiences must be previously approved in order to ensure their consistency and coherence with the ducational path carried out by the students. At the end of the internship such experience is validated in order to obtain academic recognition.

In order to obtain the recognition of the internship and the relating credit points it is necessary to follow the steps described in this paragraph.

Authorization in advance
Before the internship students must request and obtain, via email, the approval in advance by the Master of Science Program Director or his delegate. The request must include: name and type of the Company, duration of the internship, description of the activity carried out, tasks, educational objective. This request must be done also for internships to be carried out in University Offices and Departments. Requests to the professors must be sent exclusively from Bocconi email account. Answers from the MSc Program Director (that must be made in written form only) along with student's request must be immediately copied by the student in the appropriate field of the JobGate page of his/her field project in the Home Page student.

Only for curricular internships of Master of Science in Management the Internship Office is responsible of the authorizations in advance if the where the internships are carried out

• in companies, institutions, that suggested the internship opportunity through the JobGate of the Markets and External Affairs Division (see list in paragraph 5.2)
• companies and institutions adhering to the Programma Imprese Associate (Associate Companies program) and to the programmi di Partnership dell’Università (Partnership programs of the University)
• companies andi nstitutions which took part in the other initiatives promoted by the Markets and External Affairs Division (i.e. Drop-in sessions, In-Company Training).

In this cases the office responsible for authorization is  the Internship Office.

The Management MSc Program Director has still the responsability to authorize:

• internships of personal initiative
• internships carried out after the undergraduate degree and before the enrolment finalization to the MSc Program
• activities similar to the internship (qualified working experience, field projects and so on).

The Management MSc Program Director is also responsible for the final validation of all the internships.  

If the internship is carried out before the enrolment finalization to the MSc programs and after the undergraduate degree students may request authorization to have the experience recognized as a Master of Science curricular internship compulsorily by the end of the teaching period (end of second semester lessons) of the first year of studies. Once the approval is obtained, students can apply for the effective validation only when they have opted for this experience as curricular internship (and not other experiences carried out during the Master of Science program) communicating it to the Internship Office by the graduation deadline for the completion of the exams.

Final validation
Students hand in the end-of internship documentation  to the Internship Office within 2 months after the end of internship (except for those students engaged in study programs abroad):

• print of  the evaluation form by the student;
• print of the end of internship report (only for internships carried out abroad);
• internship certitication.

The evaluation form of the company tutor is printed at the Front Desk - Internship Office at the time of submission of all documents above. The Internship Office will submit the recognition form to the student to be given, together with the end-of-internship forms, to the Master of Science Program Director during his office hours. The recognition form must be signed by the professor for the final validation of the experience and returned by the student to the Welcome Desk of the One-Stop Service Center to record the internship in the student’s academic career.

The University carries out checks during the internship of the student in order to verify the real running of the internship. In case the student is repeatedly not found the internship is annulled. Such communication will be forwarded urgently to the student and to the host company.

Registration of the credit points: the internship must be recorded in the student's academic career by the deadline for the completion of all the exams provided for in the program structure for the graduation session. Generally, the internship must have been finished by that date. Any uncompleted internships which have satisfied the minimum duration of time will still be recognized and can be registered in the student's academic career only if the student must graduate before the end of the internship. In this case, the end of internship documents must be completed within the time needed to record the internship in the student's academic career, as the set deadline for the completion of the study plan approaches, and by considering the last date of the MSc Program Program Director office hours.

Withdrawal/Interruption

Withdrawal/interruption of the internship, which must be communicated urgently to the Internship Office, is possible for serious and/or certified reasons. If there is no serious/certified reasons, there will be limitations for accessing to a new internship (the new internship cannot start until one month from the date of interruption of the previous internship). For curricular internships, in case of the early interruption, even if the requirement of the minimum duration has been met, the internship may not be recognized if not previously authorized by the Program Director. The early authorization is given on the basis of assessment of all internship characteristics, including the duration.

 

As the internship is not a labour by Law, it is not paid. At their discretion companies can grant a monetary contribution that would go towards a student’s studies. Scholarships to carry out internships are also provided:

• ISU/Università Bocconi
  For students taking part in internships offered by public authorities in Italy, or through international organizations, institutions, authorities and companies abroad for which no compensation is provided, contributions are available from Università Bocconi: for allocation criteria and application forms check the ISU Download Area.
• Erasmus Student Placement
  Scholariships of the LLP/Erasmus Student Placement program are available only for  internships in the European Union in companies and research and training centers, Italian Chambers of Commerce Abroad and some International Organizations located in one of the countries participating in the Program. Internships must last minimum three months and have curricular worth. Further information:http://www.cs.unibocconi.eu/. The ISU and LLP Erasmus scholarships are not cumulative.

Though internships remain the main educational activity aimed at facilitating professional choices, other activities known as "similar activities" are permitted in lieu of the internships. These include:

• qualified work experiences, with contracts different from those of internships, such as temporary or permanent work, apprenticeship, traineeships, and limited-time work contracts ("lavoro a progetto"). These are subject to the same rules (duration, positioning and channels for finding the experience) as internships. Follow the instructions described in the paragraph 5.4. To obtain the authorization in advance students must send an email to the MSc Program Director and to the Internship Office (infostage@unibocconi.it) before the internship starts or as soon as it starts including copy of the contract drawn up with the company. Students must verify that the contract includes (or, as an alternative he must provide the following data in attachment) the following information: name and company typology, field of the activity, number of employees, location, name and contacts of a company reference person, period of the activity.
  At the end of the internship students must submit a short report containing information on the nature and duration of the activity along with a declaration of the company certifying the presence of the student at the compay during the period specified on the recognition request. After the appropriate assessment the Internship Office communicates the outcome of the student’s request and if positive prepares the recognition form in order to have the internship recorded in the student's academic career to be signed by the MSc program Director and to be returned to the Welcome desk of the One-Stop Service Center. Students who wish to request the covalidation of the internship carried out before the enrolment to the MSc programs (after having been awarded the undergraduate degree) must compulsorily request it before the end of the teaching period (end of lessons of second semester) of the first year of studies.
• in-the-field projects (administered by MSc Direction. These projects are promoted by a teacher and approved by the MSc Program Director following specific agreements with a company, an institution or professional office.

They must include the following activities:

• in-class: classroom activities guided by the professor (methodological tools), presentations from professionals in their field (e.g., applications of methodological tools). These classroom activities are not part of the educational activities which are included in the program requirements;
• in-the-field activities monitored by professionals in the field and by a teacher: case analyses, formulation and presentation of the work (group or individual) to outside professionals in the field and to a teacher. Since internships must last 10-12 weeks (about 400-480 work hours), the activities mentioned above are structured to meet the same criteria in terms of hours and/or workload. In this way the field project is equivalent to the internship.

The majority of hours must be dedicated to in-the-field activities.
Recognition takes  place considering  a list of participants provided to the Internship Office by the Program Director or his/her delegate, along with the recognition form which must be signed by the Program Director and to be returned to the Internship Office along with the other end of internship forms in order to have the internship registered in the student's academic career. The Laboratorio di moda e design  (Fashion and design workshop), code 20308 (Prof. S. Testa) is a "field project" which is offered to:

• Management choosing the Management of Fashion & Design Major
• ACME students choosing the following courses/workshops: 20237 (former 8344) MANAGEMENT OF FASHION AND LUXURY COMPANIES and 20241 MANAGEMENT OF DESIGN (former 8409);
• students enrolled in other Master of Science programs choosing at least 1 from among the courses offered on the fashion topic: code 20338 (former 8400) MANAGEMENT DELLE IMPRESE DI MODA: i processi operativi [Management of fashion companies: operational processes] and code 20339 (former 8401) MANAGEMENT DELLE IMPRESE DI MODA: i processi strategici [Management of fashion companies: strategic processes] and 20237 (former 8344) MANAGEMENT OF FASHION AND LUXURY COMPANIES

Students enrol in such activity via yoU@B student Diary (sign up for "Various activities") approximately in the month of February 2011. The profile is published on the website at http://www.unibocconi.eu/profiles

Information
For further information on the above programs we suggest you to consult the website: http://www.cs.unibocconi.eu/

Markets and External Affair Division

Internship Office 
Piazza Sraffa 11 - 20136 Milano

+39 02 5836 2712
infostage@unibocconi.it
infostagebienni@unibocconi.it (only to forward the emails for the authorization in advance by the Program Director).

Placement Library/Career Service Information Desk
Piazza Sraffa 11 - 20136 Milano
Ph. +39 02 5836 2711
placement.library@unibocconi.it