Skills-Based Internship or Collaborative Research Work Placement

Compulsory skills-based internships, together with a research-based work placement aligned with the Master’s thesis, enable students to apply their academic training while developing awareness of professional application areas within the geospatial sector. This approach supports effective skill transfer between university and industry. Learning objectives are agreed upon prior to start of the placement, and students have consistently recognized the added value of these experiences.

As part of the CDE programme, students must either complete a skills-based internship related to the programme comprising 8 weeks, which is comparable to full-time employment and corresponding to 12 ECTS points.

It should enable students to use the knowledge and skills they have gained during their studies, and is to be completed at an institution pre-approved by the responsible body.

A student may choose a collaborative research work placement (18 ECTS) to be completed at a consortium partner or at any institution worldwide for the duration of 12 weeks, work placement at non-academic partners are encouraged.

It must be confirmed by the responsible body until the end of semester one. The collaborative research work placement shall be twinned with the Master’s Thesis leading to a joint publication after graduation. 

review completed work placements of our students

explore internship opportunities provided via the PLUS Department of Geoinformatics

Steps to consider
  1. CLARIFY the placement with Programme Board members
  2. READ work placement guidelines
  3. REGISTER in PLUSonline for the ‘course’
  4. AGREE upon activities in a written agreement (check guidelines)
  5. WRITE a report in your ePortfolio
  6. UPLOAD a report (pdf) to the (moodle) forum and attach as basis for approval of study credits, a written certificate to your report (confirmation of completion from host institution). The report document should include the period (from-to), a description of tasks, notes regarding learning objectives, and recommendations to future interns. The content can be the same as in the ePortfolio, however you can add lessons learned, and any other things you won’t like to see published.

Guidelines for students and employers

latest update: January 26, 2026