Internship (MSc students)

For non-WUR students

This information is not intended for students from other institutions of higher education, who want to do their internship in Wageningen at Plant Breeding. We have limited capacity to host non-WUR students. Academic and HBO candidates should send well-motivated requests directly to putative supervisors of ongoing projects. Project descriptions and supervisors can be found here. MBO students (niveau 4) should contact alex.vansilfhout@wur.nl. We cannot compensate for travel or living costs.

To find an internship topic

Select a company or institute where you want to do your internship. In case you cannot find what you want and you would like to know more about internships, please contact the internship coordinator of PBR: Dr. Gerard van der Linden (gerard.vanderlinden@wur.nl, tel: 0317 480850). Also read the course guide (link below).

Once you have found an internship, contact Gerard van der Linden by email, and send him a description of your internship project. He will make an assessment of the internship project, and judge whether it meets the criteria for an internship at PBR.

Internships students within PBR can do two types of internships: 1) A research internship, and 2) A professional internship. The internships both use the code PBR70424. The research internship is an internship centered around a single research project with clear research questions, completed with a research report. A professional internship is an internship in which the internship student contributes to different projects or to a single, larger project. A professional internship is completed with a set of deliverables and a context report, but also includes a scientific, academic presentation and discussion of the results (See also the internship course guide (link below)).

In addition to a daily supervisor from the company or institute, you need to have an academic supervisor from WUR Plant Breeding. The internship coordinator (Gerard van der Linden) can help you find a suitable WUR supervisor. The WUR supervisor has to agree with the level of your internship project and the quality of supervision offered. He/she will also take the examination and judge your report with a second assessor.

Registration and administration

Your WUR supervisor will provide you with a link to the Osiris internship registration and administration system. Within the system, you will be asked to fill in and sign a learning agreement (together with your WUR supervisor), and to fill in a contract (with your internship provider and WUR, represented by Gerard van der Linden). Formats for both documents are provided in the system. Any questions related to the contract can be discussed with the internship coordinator (Gerard van der Linden), who will also sign the contract on behalf of the university.

To prepare the internship report and colloquium

You perform your internship activities under the daily supervision of your company/institute supervisor and inform your WUR supervisor on the progress (guided by the administrative system, and what you agree to do with your WUR supervisor). You prepare your internship report following the instructions given by your WUR supervisor. You also need towrite a self-reflection report (only read by your assessors).

You will be asked to give a colloquium at the end of your internship: a presentation of about 30 minutes including discussions about your internship research. Your WUR internship supervisor will organize the date and place of this colloquium, which will be held in the WUR Plant Breeding department.

Your internship will be finalized after an exam on your internship report with your WUR supervisor and a second assessor. Please be aware that the final mark of your internship will be evaluated according to the standard evaluation form, that includes a Rubric.

To hand in the internship report

Hand in a pdf version of your internship report and self-reflection report to (1) your supervisor and second assessor (at least seven days before the exam, or following the agreement with your supervisors). Your evaluation along with the evaluation will be presented to the PBR secretariat by your WUR supervisor. The internship report will not be sent to the WUR library but will be kept at the secretariat of Plant Breeding for internal review purposes only.