Guides to the university

All Master of Science programs include an internship or similar activity in the program requirements, classified as compulsory educational activities. Internships are worth:

• 6 credit points for the CLG-LS;
• 8 credit points for all other MSc programs;
• 6-10 credit points for Msc programs (student initially enrolled 2009-2010 academic year) depending on the Msc program.

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 is not applied:  Duration, "Positioning", "Approval and validation of internships", "Registration", "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 weeks, in Italy;
Minimum 10 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.

Objectives and contents
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 internship is an opportunity that allows students to put  their studies into practice, to grow both professionally and on a personal level.
The  contents of the internship must be consistent with the educational objectives of the student's MSc program.  

During the internship each student is assisted by a university and a company tutor.
For Themis students the internship held as part of the Themis program, if completed by a clinic experience (see "Other activities recognized in lieu of internships"), is recognized as a curricular internship.

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.

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

• in the first year, in particular circumstances only and subject to prior approval from the MSc Program Director, 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 (except for CLG-LS students); in this case there are various authorization and validation procedures (see Approval and validation of internships)
  

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

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

• the Career Service;
• International Relations Service (SRI) - International Internship Office; 
• MSc Program Director.

Students can also find internships via their own channels(except for CLG-LS students). In this case, the MSc Program Director will carefully monitor the internship request. In addition, students must contact the Career Service - Internship Office or the International Internship Office (SRI), depending on the type of internship, well in advance and in any case before starting the internship.

The Career Service and International Internship Office (SRI) work together with the MSc Program Directors to make the internship characteristics uniform (host company experience and activities to be carried out) and to ensure that they meet the educational objectives of the MSc programs and educational paths.

Whatever channel is used to find an internship, the host company or organization and Bocconi sign an agreement and a training project on the objectives and contents of the training period. As the promoter of the initiative, the University prepares all the necessary legal documentation, checks the quality of the training projects, and provides insurance coverage.

Internships abroad with Career Service, if they are not run by internship agreement and a relating training project, can be run by a working or internship contract stipulated with the company or by other documentation demonstrating practice educational experience according with the local laws where the experience is held. Internships which are not provided with such documentation cannot be recognised for the awarding of credit points.

It is therefore necessary for the student to contact the Career Service Internship Office or International Internship Office (SRI), well in advance, and in any case before the internship begins.

Approval and validation of internships - Internship recognition

The procedures to have the internship recognised and to be awarded the credit points are as follows:

• Before the internship: the Offices responsible for internship procedures, not only issue the documentation if requested from the rules (agreement, training projectand end-of internship forms) but they also issue the recognition form that the student must return signed by the MSc Program Director or by Professor assigned by him to the offices responsible for the internship before the internship starts. The Professor's authorization may be carried out via email, only after the MSc Program Director has evaluated the documentation which certifies the contents of the internship. For internship run by the Career Service the service will contact the student to agree upon a date to take part in the Internship group i.e. a preparatory meeting for the internship experience.

N.B. From the 1^st June 2009 the Career Service is responsible for the authorization of Master of Science in Management curricular internships, where the internships are carried out in companies, institutions, professional studios already in contact with the University and found by students through the JobGate. In this case the authorization must be requested directly to Career Service.

The 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).
  

The MSc Program Director is also responsible for the final validation of all the internships including those authorized by Career Service.

For all the internships activated through the Career Service, the Service will contact the student to agree on a date to participate in the Gruppo Stage (Internship group) , preparatory meeting to the internship experience.

• At the end of the internship: the student hands in the end-of internship documentation; the Offices responsible for internship procedures checks the documentation, hands to the student the internship recognition form that must be submitted, along with the end-of-internship documentation, to the MSc Program Director. The authorization form must be signed once again by the Professor for the final validation of the internship experience and in order to have the internship recorded in the student academic career.
  
• 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 indicated above will still be recognized and can be registered in the student's academic career. 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 by the deadline for the completion of all exams provided for in the program structure for the graduation session.

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 by the end of the first semester of the first year of studies. The authorization will be communicated by the MSc Program Director to Career Service or to the International Internship Office. Students can apply for the effective validation only when they have opted for this experience and not for the others and when this has been communicated to Career Service or to the Internship Office by the deadline date for submitting the degree documentation.

Interruption

Interruption of the internship is possible for serious and/or certified reasons or for other reasons such as:

Absence of the tutor or lack of assistance and participation, contents which are clearly not educational as they are not coherent with the educational project or serious personal reasons.

Contributions for internships in Italy and abroad
For students taking part in internships offered by public authorities in Italy, or through international organizations, institutions, authorities and companies abroad promoted by the Career Service and the International Internship Office (SRI) for which no compensation is provided, contributions are available from Università Bocconi: for allocation criteria and application forms see the website at www.unibocconi.eu/financialaid in the Download Area.

Contributions for internships in the European Union

Erasmus Student Placement: the LLP/Erasmus program offers students scholarships for curricular internships in companies and research and training centers located in one of the countries participating in the Program.   Information regarding duration, place, amount of contribution, eligibility, requirements, and participating institutions/companies are available on http://www.ir.unibocconi.eu/  e http://www.cs.unibocconi.eu/. The scholarships are not cumulative with contributions indicated in the preceding title.

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, eligibility) as internships.
  To have the activity recognized and the credits assigned, students must hand in to the Career Service - Internship Office a copy of the contract stipulated with the company and a short report from the student containing information on the nature and duration of the activity.   This is needed to prepare the authorization and final validation form for the Director's signature. This is to be handed in to the Career Service - Internship Office and recorded in the student's academic career together with other end of internship forms.
• in-the-field projects (clinics and Moot for the Master of Science in Giurisprudenza [Law] (CLG-LS) 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.

The Laboratorio di moda e design  (Fashion and design workshop), code 8174 (Prof. S. Testa) is a "field project" which is offered to:

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

   Students enrol in such activity via yoU@B student Diary (sign up for various activities box) approximately in the month of February 2010 . The profile is published on the website at  http://www.unibocconi.eu/profiles

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 participants list provided to the Career Service - Internship Office or the International Internship Office by the Program Director or his/her delegate, along with the necessary approval form and teacher's final evaluation which must be signed by the Program Director. The Career Service - Internship Office will then register these in the student's academic career along with the other end of internship forms.

The Career Service is the University's point of contact for all internship activities, with the exception of programs organized by the International Relations Service - International Internship Office (see International Internship with the International Relations Service).
The Career Service promotes internship opportunities both in Italy and abroad with public and private organizations:

• industrial and commercial companies, service providers, banks, financial institutions;
• consulting and auditing firms, professional (e.g. accountants) and legal studios;
• government sector, public agencies, non-profit organizations;
• cultural and artistic institutions;
• authorities and companies operating in tourism, communication and media industries.

The Service organizes all administrative procedures required by current regulations.

Furthermore, the Career Service gives useful information to assist students in identifying other opportunities based on specific needs and interests. It also helps students make their applications more effective through individual consultation and seminars.

In addition to what has been said in terms of its characteristics, an internship - known also as traineeship - is an experience which offers in-the-field training, whose regulations are valid in Italy and set by law (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 2009) and by the University). An internship is not a labour contract.

By law internships are not paid. At their discretion, companies can grant a monetary contribution that would go towards a student's studies.

Participation in internships
Internship opportunities in Italy and abroad are available through:

• JobGate: published online with daily updates, internship and work opportunities reserved for Bocconi students;
• Arts and Culture International Program: a program offering internship opportunities at cultural institutions in Europe and around  the world; 
• Curricular Internship Special: semi-annual publication containing internship opportunities at companies belonging to Partner Programs for Development and Associated Companies 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;
• Placement Library: the Career Service's library dedicated to the world of work. Students can organize the search and retrieval of information which is useful for finding internships and jobs.

These tools help to balance the supply and demand for internships. Securing an internship offer is not necessarily linked to academic qualifications.  The curricular and personal characteristics of each candidate  are decided on by the companies which decide on the selection based on the contents of the educational project.

Moreover, the Career Service collaborates with the MSc Program Director in support of the internship opportunities procured by MSc Direction, facilitating the realization of other activities (such as in-class initiatives) aimed at presenting specific internship opportunities for each Master of Science program.

Documents
The Internship Office of the Career Service is the contact point within the University that is responsible for formalizing the training experience (unless they are arranged by the International Internship Office (SRI), see International Internship with the International Relations Service), regulating internships (internship agreements, training projects, and orientation) and providing  the necessary documentation to ensure the training experience is recorded in the student's academic career.

Before starting an internship, students must collect the Educational and Orientation Project form at the Career Service Internship Office and give it to the host organization.

Information and support
For further information and to sign up for seminars and individual consultation sessions contact the Career Service:

Career Service
Piazza Sraffa 11
e-mail: infostage@unibocconi.it
e-mail: infocareer@unibocconi.it
http://www.cs.unibocconi.eu/