You are responsible for finding an internship yourself. The Institute and FSW Career Services provide several information meetings and services to facilitate this process. Please keep the internship conditions in mind while looking for an internship organisation.

In order to obtain ECTS for the internship, this should contain a clear research component. Internship activities can be performed at a public, semi-public of private organisation. You may for instance execute a research for an NGO or government department or join a research group. While other activities may be performed during the internship, the research component should be at the core of the internship.

In case you cannot find an internship vacancy for a research internship, we advise you to look into vacancies available for general internships, and discuss with the organisation where you would like to do an internship the options the organisation offers to pursue a research during/as part of the internship.

Certain conditions are set for a research internship in order to obtain study credits, being:

1. You must have passed the propaedeutic phase and obtained at least 40 ECTS from the second year incl. the course RMPS before you can apply for your internship.
2. The work during the internship should always interface with the Bachelor of Political Science. It is your individual responsibility, in consultation with the internship organisation, to assure that your tasks and daily activities at the internship organisation are sufficiently related to Political Science and contain a clear research component.
3. The core activities during the internship should be of an academic work and thinking level.
4. Your internship proposal must be approved on beforehand by the Board of Examiners (see the procedure in the internship manual) and submitted at the latest three months before the internship starts.
5. All required internship documents (as described in the internship manual) must be submitted in time and approved.
6. The internship must be equal to 15 ECs, which stands for 420 hours. These hours include participation at your internship organisation, your internship report and meetings with your internship supervisor. Both fulltime and a part-time internships are possible, as long as the hours for 15 ECs are met.
7. A grade can only be awarded if you meet the agreed number of hours as determined in the internship proposal, if the internship report is found to be sufficient and if there is no premature termination of the internship.
8. For internships abroad, registration in the Usis Study Abroad portal of Leiden University is required, at least two weeks before departure. Based on a safety check of the proposed location for internship abroad, permission may be granted or denied by the University to travel to the foreseen destination.

• Discuss your plans with your Study Coordinator in order to ensure that your proposed plans fit in your Leiden study plan, and to be aware of any potential issues, study delays, or other concerns.
• Pre-approval of your internship proposal is needed by the Board of Examiners of Political Science, incase you want to obtain ECTS for the internship.
• Once it is established that you will do a research internship for credits, enrollment in the elective space course for “bachelor research internship” and the related Brightspace page of Political Science for bachelor internships is required as well as submission of all required documents in Brightspace.
• An internship report includes A) an academic research report of 15 pages, B) a personal reflection of 2-5 pages and C) a review by the practical supervisor.
• Grading will take place by your internal internship supervisor of Political Science and will be based on an assessment of the internship report. The assessment score received from the practical supervisor at the internship organization through the form “Review by practical supervisor at host organization” is part of the total assessment.

For the full procedure, please refer to the Internship Manual.

Bachelor students Political Science ((International Relations and Organisations/Politicologie/Internationale Politiek) intending to do their internship abroad must ensure that their destination meets Leiden University’s minimum safety criteria in order to receive credit resulting from their activities abroad.

Before you start organising your research internship abroad you must check the safety of your destination, based on the travel advice of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Board of Examiners will not take your application for an internship abroad into consideration if the destination is not safe.

Negative Travel Advisories

Leiden University uses the advice provided by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a basis in determining the safety of a study activity abroad. Those destinations that have a negative travel advisory (or require travel through an area with a negative travel advisory) are ineligible for credit at Leiden. This includes transfer of credits obtained for study at an institution, credit for an internship, and credit for research paper/thesis resulting from research or field work undertaken in an area with a negative travel advice. These destinations are also not eligible for Leiden University scholarships.

A negative travel advice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs includes areas where the advice is "Avoid all travel" as well as "Avoid Non-essential travel". These are represented by the colors orange and red on the Ministry's website. If a travel advisory changes to negative before departure or when a student is abroad, students are required to follow Leiden University's instructions regarding next steps.

Current Covid-19 restrictions

Due to Covid-19, Leiden University currently approves study related activities abroad under certain conditions only. Countries classified green or yellow, are approved. You do not need to follow any additional procedure.

You can only go to a country with color code orange:

• if the country is your home country and you are already there, or if it is your home country and you can enter without entry restrictions.
• if you are a citizen of a country that is welcome in the host country without entry restrictions.

In these cases, first ask for permission from the International Incident Team (IIT). You are NOT allowed to leave without this permission.

You can submit this request after approval of your internship plan, 2 weeks before departure, via this form.

Register in study abroad portal

Once you have obtained the necessary approval for your research internship abroad, you must register in the study abroad portal.

Why

By registering in the Study Abroad portal, you enable Leiden University to make sure you have selected a safe destination and to contact you in case of an emergency abroad. If you will receive study credits, university funding or recognition on your transcript for your activity abroad, registration in the study abroad portal is obligatory.

When

Register in the Study Abroad portal as soon as you have gained permission from your study programme for your activity abroad - and at least 2 weeks before departure. If you will go abroad within 2 weeks, get in touch with your internship coordinator for instructions.

How

• Log into uSis > click on the Study Abroad tile > select ‘Register another type of study-related activity abroad’.
• Enter the requested data, upload any required documents then click on submit.
• If you have the necessary faculty approval and your destination is safe, the university will approve your registration. You may then depart for your activity abroad. Remember to check the travel advice before departure in case the safety situation changes.

As soon as possible, enter your contact details abroad in the Study Abroad portal - in the ‘During your stay’ section. Remember to keep your contact details updated whilst abroad so we can reach you in case of emergencies!

Internship coordinator Institute of Political Science

The internship coordinator for the bachelor programmes International Relations and Organisations and Politicologie/Internationale Politiek: