GUIDES TO THE UNIVERSITY

WBB program students may include an internship/traineeship experience (hereinafter internship) in the study plan (as an alternative to an elective in the fourth year) or as an additional activity (see 8.5. Additional Courses), or an activity similar to an internship. These activities are worth 6 credits. They must meet the requirements set out in paragraph 4.1.

The credits for an internship as an alternative to an elective or an internship as an additional activity shall not contribute to the GPA.

Other internship experiences may be completed during your studies or after graduation, which do not have credit point value and for which the information in the following paragraphs and sections does not apply: "Duration", "Positioning", "Internship Recognition", "Activities Similar to Internships and Recognition".

In this chapter, curricular internship stands exclusively for curricular internship for credit.

Curricular internships must have the following characteristics regarding duration, objectives and content, location and positioning.

Duration

• minimum 6 weeks full-time whether in Italy or outside Italy;  
• minimum 8 weeks in the case of part-time internships, whether in Italy or outside Italy. 

The number of weeks is understood as continuous and non-cumulative.
For variations on duration (postponement, suspension, withdrawal/interruption) see paragraph 4.5 'Postponement, Suspension, Withdrawal, Interruption'.

Objectives and content
The internship is an in-the-field training experience and not an employment contract. Its regulations are valid in Italy and are set by the law (national and regional law) and by the University. The main objective of internships is to educate.

They allow students to:

• learn about the world of work;
• develop professional skills and knowledge;
• facilitate their professional choices.

The content of internships must be aligned with the educational objectives of the Program.
Students who decide to attend the fourth year at Bocconi and choose to specialize their studies by taking one of the proposed tracks can choose to include the internship in place of a track course, on the condition that the internship experience is aligned with the selected track. Assessment of this alignment will be completed by the Program Director. If not aligned, the student will automatically be moved to the free track. The in-the-field experience includes a company tutor (professional expert) supporting the students. The company tutor should be referred to for anything the student needs or the company needs within the University.

Location
Internships may take place - in Italy and outside Italy - at companies, public and private institutions, professional firms, international organisms, diplomatic agencies, cultural institutions and other organizations (hereinafter company). Internships held on the premises of the participant's family property are not accepted. The University reserves the right to evaluate the eligibility of the internship location and any mixed (in-person/remote) or remote (distance) modes, according to the regulations.

Positioning
The University places such experiences after the completion of learning activities which are fundamental to gaining basic theoretical knowledge. Students can therefore participate in a curricular internship only after completing third-year lectures. Internships are registered in students' academic careers as a fourth-year educational activity. 
Students who decide to attend the fourth year at Bocconi University can take part in a curricular internship at the end of third-year teaching and during the fourth year.
Students who decide not to attend the fourth year at Bocconi University may complete a curricular internship only at the end of teaching of the third year and before the start of lectures for the fourth year at the chosen University.

The duration and content requirements for these internships remain unchanged compared to the requirements for curricular internships with the standard time location (see the paragraphs on duration, objectives and contents and location).
For more information on the recognition procedures, see paragraph 4.4. 'Internship recognition').

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

• Market & Partners Organizational Unit (see information below);
• Bachelor of Science Program Direction.

Internships at highly qualified companies that are found through students’ own channels can also be recognized. In this case, the Internship Office will carefully monitor the internship opportunity. Students should ask the company to get in touch with the University, at least three weeks before the start of the internship, by accessing to the JobGate Portal.

The Market & Partners Organizational Unit promotes and makes available internship opportunities in Italy and abroad. For more information, please see the website: Campus and Services > Current Students > Career Services.

In order to activate an internship, it must be formalized, i.e. governed by a document that regulates its aims and content and must be approved before the beginning of the experience. The document is the Internship Agreement, and it contains the internship’s training project.

Activation requires the following steps:

1. As the sole promoter for curricular internships, the University prepares all the necessary legal documentation, checks the quality of the content of the training project, and provides insurance coverage.
   This means that internships activated in Italy with host institutions other than Bocconi cannot be recognized as curricular.
    
2. Once the student (hereinafter trainee) has been selected and the internship details have been agreed, the company fills out the internship document (entering information and content) by the Monday preceding the start of the internship. Internships always start on a Monday. Information relating to the internship will be visible to the trainee on JobGate in the “My Internships” area of yoU@B so that he/she can check that the content agreed upon by with the company during the interviews are coherent with the ones specified. The confirmation is valid as internship acceptance.
    
3. The Internship Office checks the training project and, after checking the coherence and its quality in accordance with the current laws, confirms the internship. The University can negotiate the content and conditions of the internship with the company and, in case of no agreement, may refuse to start the internship.
    
4. Before starting the internship, the student must request advance authorization from the University and wait until it has been granted.
    
5. On the first day of the internship, the company downloads the internship document from JobGate and it is signed by the trainee together with a company legal representative or delegated party. The original document, with a duty stamp when required (duty stamp at the expense of the company), is promptly sent by the company to the Internship Office so it can be signed by the University.
    
6. The trainee must ensure that the company sends the original copy of the document to the University. If it is not returned, the internship cannot be considered valid. The internship document, completed with all signatures, is uploaded on JobGate in the “My Internships - Attachments” area by the University to be used by the company and by the trainee.

Internships outside Italy are also activated through an Internship Agreement, in compliance with the procedure described above.

However, such internships can also be run with an internship contract between the trainee and the company or another document demonstrating practical educational experience according with the local laws where the internship experience is held. This documentation, together with a description of the internship's activities and the company tutor's contact information, must be sent by the student at least two weeks before the start of the internship to the Internship Office via the procedure laid out in the dedicated FAQ in B in Touch in the yoU@B student diary. Experiences without such documentation that are not communicated in advance to the Internship Office cannot be assessed or recognized as a curricular internship. Experiences communicated after the start date will therefore not be accepted.

For internships completed outside Italy, trainees must verify with the company the methods for obtaining, if requested, the appropriate visa and any other required document so that the internship or work can be carried out in compliance with the law of the host country.

For internships completed outside Italy trainees must:

• view the “Bocconi Students Travel Risk Policy” (available on the yoU@B Diary);
   
• sign the “Student Responsibility Declaration” document on JobGate. With this document, the student declares to be aware that the University cannot ensure the security and solvency of the institution and the country in which he/she has freely decided to carry out the internship;
   
• comply with the measures for mitigating risk suggested in The Travel Risk Policy. It is the student’s responsibility to take out healthcare insurance through a suitable international medical policy valid in the country where the internship will be completed for the entire duration of the stay, in particular in counties not covered by the European Health Insurance Card.

Students can also refer to International SOS to receive assistance in the areas of health, safety, logistics and legal issues in emergency situations.
For some typologies of internships, the trainee and the company tutor are invited to complete the mid-term online evaluation, indicatively three weeks after the start of the experience. In the “My Internships” area of the yoU@B Diary, the trainee can view the evaluation completed by the company tutor and can decide whether to authorize the tutor to view the completed evaluation.

Shortly before the end of the internship, the following end-of-internship documents must be filled out for the purposes of validation:

• final evaluation completed by the student via the yoU@B Diary;
   
• final evaluation of the company tutor. The evaluation by the company tutor includes information on the skills acquired.

Students have the full responsibility of making sure that the tutor has completed the evaluation. All end-of- internship documents are available to be filled out starting ten days before the end of the internship and must be completed within the end of the experience.

At the end of the internship and upon request of the trainee, the company must issue an internship certification for his/her personal purposes.

All internship experiences must be approved in advance in order to ensure their consistency and coherence with the educational objectives of the Bachelor program the students are enrolled in. At the end of the internship, this experience is validated in order to obtain credit points. To obtain recognition of the internship, the steps described below must be followed.

Advance authorization

1. Before the beginning of the experience and after viewing the internship in yoU@B and confirming it, the student must request the advance authorization by accessing the area ‘My internships’ and clicking on ‘Request internship recognition’.
    
2. The request is made viewable to the Program Director who can give approval, reject it or, for more information, ask the student to schedule a meeting.
    
3. The student views the request outcome in the ‘My internships’ area in yoU@B.

Note: without advance authorization, the internship is not started as a curricular internship.

Final validation

1. Once the internship has ended, the Program Director views the evaluations completed by the trainee and company tutor (end-of-internship documentation). If more information is needed, the Internship Office can ask the student to schedule a meeting.
    
2. Once final recognition has been obtained, the student can check the credit points recording in his/her academic career via the Punto Blu.
   
   The University will carry out checks during the student’s internship in order to verify that the internship is actually taking place. In case the student is repeatedly missing, the internship will be annulled and the annulment communication will be forwarded to the student, the Program Director and the host company. In case of behavior contrary to the Honor Code or Regulations for University internships during the experience, the Internship Office may report students to the Disciplinary Board.
    
3. The Study Planning Office (Academic Services) records the internships credits by the graduation deadline set for the completion of the study plan. Generally, the internship needs to be completed by that date.
   Recognition in the student's academic career may also be requested for uncompleted internships which have met the minimum duration requirement, only if:
   • the student has to graduate before the end of the internship;
   • the student requests admission to a Bocconi Master of Science program;
   • the student applies for a scholarship.

In these cases, to make sure the credits are present in the study plan before the deadlines, at least two weeks before the related deadline, the student must:

• make an explicit request for early recognition by writing to the Internship Office through B in Touch;
• complete the end-of-internship documents within the time needed for final recognition.

Postponement
Before the end of the internship, a postponement may be requested for a limit of 6 months of the duration of the internship. The Internship Office may grant a postponement after carefully evaluating the reasons for the request and only if the company demonstrates that more time to reach the educational objective for the complexity of the project is needed.
The postponement period must be communicated in advance by the company to the Internship Office on the JobGate portal in the "My Internship - Internship duration change" section and the trainee must access yoU@B to confirm the postponement entered.

Suspension
In agreement with Bocconi University, a period of temporary suspension of the internship experience of a maximum of 30 days can be admitted (e.g. company closure, holiday) to be recovered at the end of the internship if this affects the minimum duration of a curricular internship. Suspensions must be communicated in advance by the company on JobGate in the section ‘Internship duration changes’.

Withdrawal/Interruption
Without serious and justified reasons, there will be limitations for accessing a new internship (the new internship cannot be started before two weeks from the date of withdrawal/interruption of the previous internship).
Withdrawals, with relating reasons, must be communicated by the trainee before the beginning of the internship in the section ‘My Internships - Internship duration changes’.
Interruptions, with relating reasons, must be immediately communicated by the company in JobGate in the section ‘My Internships - Internship duration changes’. The trainee must access yoU@B and confirm the interruption entered.

In case of curricular internships, early interruptions that are not authorized in advance by the Internship Office can result in the internship not being recognized even if the minimum duration has been met.

Early authorization is given on the basis of the evaluation of all internship characteristics, including the duration.

Curricular internships are not compensated. At their discretion, companies may grant an allowance (monetary contribution).
For unpaid internships carried out abroad, for which no allowance is provided, scholarships may be given by Bocconi University.
Depending on the specific internship requirements, the following may be provided:

• ERASMUS+ scholarship;
• Contribution for internships at the MAECI institutions (Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation);
• Contribution for internships at international organizations.

For more information: dedicated FAQ available in B in Touch.

Though internships remain the main educational activity aimed at putting studies into practice, other activities known as "similar activities" are permitted in lieu of internships.
These include:

1. Qualified work experiences, with contracts different from those of internships, such as, for example, temporary or permanent work (occasional work is therefore not included). These are subject to the same rules (duration, positioning and channels for finding the experience) as internships. The Internship Office will assess the actual educational value of the experience in relation to the student’s study path. To request recognition the following steps should be taken:
    
   • at least three weeks prior to the start of the experience, students must send - via the procedure available in the dedicated FAQ in B in Touch  - a copy of the contract signed with the company to the Internship Office. The minimum information that must be on the contract, or provided additionally if not included, can be verified online.
      
   • The Internship Office, having verified that the experience is in line with the student’s study path and the University’s quality standards, enters the information relating to the activity similar to the internship on the JoBGate and the student must request advance authorization from the Internship Office by writing via B in Touch, available in the yoU@B student diary.
      
   • At the end of the minimum of the duration for the internship recognition, students must upload, in the ‘My internships - attachments’ area, a short report including information on the experience and a declaration by the company certifying the presence of the student at the company in the period specified on the request of recognition. After this has been completed, students should inform the Internship Office through “B in Touch” on yoU@B.
      
   • After appropriate assessment the Internship Office will proceed with the final recognition in accordance with the procedure specified in paragraph 4.4.
      
2. A field project, can be organized in two ways:
   • Field project with Employer
     Activated following an agreement between the University and the Employer, a field project provides for analysis and research work on an organizational and / or business issue entrusted to a group of 2/4 students, led by a professional from the company / institution with the involvement of a faculty member. The organization of the field project is coordinated by Career Services. The experience, lasting at least 8 weeks, is carried out mainly remotely and is completed by professional orientation meetings, organized by the Employer, with sectoral / functional focus or in preparation for recruitment. Like the internship, the field project is also started on the basis of a document prepared on the JobGate portal by the University. On the portal it is also possible to begin the recognition procedure for curricular purposes, as with an internship.
      
   • On the field research project. This is an activity promoted by a faculty member involving the student exclusively in a research activity to be carried out at a Research Center or a Department at the University. Assuming that this activity should be considered as a part-time activity, the minimum duration for the recognition is of 8 weeks while the maximum one is 6 months. A research field project can be completed only as a curricular activity for credit; it cannot be activated in any other form. The procedure for authorization and recognition is the same procedure used for the internships (see paragraph 4.4. Internship Recognition) except for a final report on the activity carried out with papers or report attachments to be uploaded to JobGate at the end of the experience.

To request certifications from the University specifying participation in a curricular internship for credit recorded in the academic career, you must use the cert@B procedure available on the yoU@B Diary (see chapter 10 Certifications, Self-declarations). These types of certificates are subject to duty stamp fees.
The documents described in the following paragraph are exceptions to this procedure.

• Declaration of completed internship: interns must provide the contact information of the recipient to whom the declaration will be made out.
  In order to obtain this declaration, the internship needs to have already been recorded on JobGate with all the supporting documentation and, in the case of curricular internships for credit, it needs to have been recorded on the academic career.
• To support a visa application or request: the student must provide the name and address of the company/intuition/diplomatic office/immigration office to address the declaration and the characteristics of the declaration.

These declarations are exempt from duty stamp fees. Requests for the above declarations must be sent to the Internship Office through B in Touch, available in the yoU@B student diary.

Market & Partners Organizational Unit
Internship Office
Piazza Sraffa 11 - 20136 Milano
Tel +39 02 5836 2478
B in Touch: available in yoU@B

Career Service Infopoint
Piazza Sraffa 11 - 20136 Milano
Ph. +39 02 5836 2711
infocareer@unibocconi.it