Compulsory internship

The internship must be registered through the Internship Coordination Office of the Department of Social Sciences at the University of Kassel. To do so, download the“Internship Registration”form, fill it out legibly, have it signed by your supervising instructor, and submit it to the Internship Coordination Office (digitally to praxis-beratung5[at]uni-kassel[dot]de; by mail to University of Kassel, Department of Social Sciences, Internship Coordination, Nora Platiel-Str. 1, 34127 Kassel; or at the mailroom at Nora-Platiel-Str. 1, 2nd floor, Room 2309, P.O. Box No. 76).

To register for the internship, you’ll need a faculty member to supervise the internship and read/evaluate your report. In principle, any faculty member in your degree program is eligible. This includes not only instructors in the core, cluster, and project modules, but also those in the sustainability specialization tracks. It’s best to contact the faculty member by email and explain your internship request.

If the instructor needs further information, please refer them to the guidelines for supervising a required internship in the BA in Sustainability Studies.

Before the internship begins, the completed“Internship Registration”form, signed by the supervising teacher, must be submitted.

After completing the internship: When submitting the internship report, the“Internship Certificate”must also be submitted to the supervising teacher. Additionally, on a voluntary basis:“Brief Information on the Internship”for the internship coordination office.

The formal requirements can be found in the currently valid version of the examination regulations, specifically in the module description for the practical module.

According to the 2024 Departmental Examination Regulations, the internship can be completed as follows:

• a domestic internship of at least 8 weeks, including a self-directed project that serves as a project in the project pillar,
• an internship abroad lasting at least 8 weeks,
• an internship of at least 8 weeks (or two internships, one of which must be at least 6 weeks long and the second no shorter than 4 weeks) in Germany or abroad.

The requirements for the internship report can be found in the Guidelines for the Internship Report in the Bachelor’s program in Sustainability Sciences.

There is a mandatory follow-up seminar. This seminar should be taken after the internship. However, the timing may sometimes overlap with the internship period. If you have any questions, please contact the instructor of the follow-up seminar. For this follow-up seminar, students are required to complete a course assignment in the form of a presentation during the seminar. Registration takes place via eCampus, as with all other courses.

The Internship Coordination Office of the Department of Social Sciences can issue a certificate for the internship host. The following information is required: full name, date of birth, degree program, and the year of the examination regulations. The certificate will be sent via email.

Yes, that's possible. For example: 20 hours per week → duration of 16 weeks instead of 8 weeks. A total of 320 hours must be completed at the internship site.

Yes, that is possible. However, it must comply with the provisions in the currently valid version of the examination regulations: one internship must last at least 6 weeks, and the second must last at least 4 weeks (PO-2024).

You must submit a sick leave notice to your internship host. Check with your internship host to find out what their standard procedures are. Absences must be made up to a reasonable extent so that the 320-hour internship requirement is met. Vacation days and holidays do not count as absences.

You’ll need to plan for a longer preparation period and secure funding for this. The International Office and the Career Service provide advising on internships abroad, particularly regarding the formal requirements. You can also contact faculty members with international connections. Funding opportunities are available, for example, through the DAAD.

Mandatory internships are part of the training program, not an employment relationship. Therefore, no social security contributions are required. However, free coverage under a health insurance plan may be revoked if your income is too high. For more information, see the brochure “Rights and Responsibilities During an Internship” published by the German Trade Union Confederation.

The mandatory internship is part of the training program. Therefore, students are generally not entitled to compensation or paid time off. If the internship is nevertheless compensated, this is considered income and is fully counted toward BAföG eligibility (exemption amounts do not apply). It is best to consult the BAföG counseling office at the Studierendenwerk before starting the internship.