Industrial Internships - General Information
The course program Scientific Computing is very close to scientific research at industrial companies. With its clear focus on application, an industrial internship at companies with a focus on scientific computing is recommended. Of course, the internship should be in the field of scientific computing. In general, before you start the internship, you have to register it and sign an internship contract with the company.
In case you intend to do an internship with a company, you have several options to credit this internship for your final transcript:
- Internship for key competence training (ÜK)
- Internship as practical (master advanced practical)
- Internship for your master thesis
- Internship for work
You find a more detailed description below the job offer section.
Companies offering internships
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is one of the leading companies in technical solutions for industries. Their portfolio ranges from energy to industry automisation, but also includes devices for private households and covers therefore a wide range of technical support. First founded in 1847 in Germany, Siemens AG, has become a worldwide operating company.
Job Offers by Siemens AG (filter "Experience Level" for "Student")
Contact Persons for Germany:
Christoph Heinrich
Thomas Baudisch
Deutsche Börse Group
Within the financial sector, Deutsche Börse Group is working on international level to offer innovative market infrastructure. Centered around IT solutions Deutsche Börse Group is offering services in the fields of pre-trading, trading and post-trading.
Job offers by Deutsche Börse Group (filter "Type of Employment for "Students")
SAP
Founded in 1972, SAP has changed the way, companies work. With its systemoriented program development SAP offers a software, that integrates all operational processes and allows it to process data in real time. Today, SAP is also working in cloud solutions for their coustomers.
Job offers by SAP
DB regio
As one of Germanys largest employers and regional transport operators, DB Regio operates on two platforms: Railway and busses. DB Regio is market leader in Germany's regional transport. In metropolitan areas, city regions and rural areas, DB Regio thrives to make people more mobile. For the business areas rail and bus, DB Regio coordinates closely with the responsible authorities and ordering organisations.
BASF
BASF is a chemical company with its headquarters located in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has customers in over 190 countries and supplies products to a wide variety of industries. Founded by Friedrich Engelhorn in 1865 in Mannheim, BASF has become the largest chemical producer in the world.
Job Offers by BASF
Contact Person for Germany: Christian Hoffmann
Camelot ITLab
Work with us on digital solutions that change value chains forever: Camelot Innovative Technologies Lab (Camelot ITLab) is one of the leading consultancies for the digitization of processes along the entire value chain. We develop trend-setting cloud applications and combine SAP innovations into tailor-made solutions with a strong focus on Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Data & Analytics, Customer Experience, and ERP.
d-fine
d-fine is a continuously growing European consulting company with over 1,000 employees. We are close to our customers with eight locations in four countries. Our projects focus on quantitative issues around data analytics, data science, modelling and the development of sustainable technological solutions. Our consulting approach is based on many years of practical experience and dynamic teams with an analytical and technological focus.
Internship for Key Competences (ÜK)
If you decide to do an internship for key competence training (ÜK), the guidance counsellor, Dr. Michael Winckler, is responsible. Please contact him for registration of your internship. The internship should last 4 to 8 weeks with a workload of 160 hours. 145 hours should be time spent at your company, and the other 15 hours should be spent on writing a report and doing a presentation on your work at your company.
The written report (5-7 pages) should include
- the proof of your internship
- basic data on the company and the duration of internship
- description of your duties, typical workday
- a section about your experiences, lessons learned.
Once per year the faculty holds an information session on internships. In this session students who did their internship during the previous 12 months give a short presentation (10 minutes). This presentation is open for everyone, who is interested. Aim of the presentation is other students learning from your experience.
This internship for FüK will be credited with 6 ECTS. The FüK internship module is ungraded. The report and the presentation are the mandatory deliverables to complete the module.
Internship as Practical (Advanced Software Practical)
As second option, you can do an internship that's counted as an advanced software practical. such an internship usually develops from your own contacts to a company. For the internship, you need two supervisors: One at the faculty and one at the company. Both your university supervisor and the company supervisor you are working with, have to accept the internship before your start it. This is usually done through an internship agreement. The workload for this internship is between 240 and 300 hours. During your internship you will work on a software project that has been defined in advance. At the end you will have to give a presentation on your work and results as well as a project report with documented software.
The internship as practical will be credited with 8 ECTS. The deliverables are the results and documentation of your project and a presentation of your practical for the two supervisors. The grade is awarded by the university supervisor after consultation with the company.
Internship for Master Thesis
The third option, that you have, is to do an internship along with your master thesis within a company. Again (as with the internship for practical), you need two supervisors, one at the faulty and one at the company. The topic of your master thesis will be defined in collaborative work between you and your two supervisors. Note that the faculty supervisor has the responsibility to represent the thesis at the faculty and therefor has the final saying on the definition of the thesis project. Of course, the research topic has to be close to the research topics of the study program. You will write your thesis on the research you are doing at the company and at the workgroup of your university supervisor. Afterwards you need to hand in your thesis and the documented software. The thesis will be graded by your supervisor and a second member of the faculty (as usual). The company usually provides a job reference letter to you, evaluating your skills as an internship student.
The internship for master thesis will be credited as your thesis (30 ECTS). Deliverables are your final thesis and a presentation and defence of your thesis results in front of a scientific audience. The company supervisor should be invited to attend the thesis defence.
Internship for work (Werksstudent)
Companies are offering extended internships usually lasting at least 4-6 months for advanced bachelor and for master students. Such an internship is a great opportunity to earn some money and simultaneously build a network of contacts in a specific company. Note that a working contract cannot be combined with a module that earns graded credits towards your degree (Magic formula: "Either grades or money"). However, it can count as an "Internship für FüK".
Internships often lead to further offers such as an internship for practical or an internship for master thesis. Note that if you intend to skip one term of the master's program and instead do an internship for work, you can officially apply for skipping a term. In this case you are not allowed to complete any credits during the leap term, but on the other hand the term will not be counted towards your degree. International (non-EU) students can also apply for a tuition waiver for this leap term. The possibility to do a practical for work also depends on the immigration title you hold. Please make sure that the visa allows you to work as a student intern.