Internship

First of all, a project placement gives you the opportunity to use your theoretical knowledge in practice while learning more about your host organisation and its employees.

You don’t only gain practical work experience, but also have the chance to:

• Establish a close dialogue and collaboration with your host organisation.
• Test your qualifications in practice.
• Gain knowledge of the business world, including knowledge of working methods and processes.
• Relate your degree programme to the labour market.
• Gain work experience that will look good on your CV.
• Expand your network, which might help you to find a job or a project partner at some point in the future.
• Gain some ECTS credits.

During a project placement, your working day will be very different from what you are used to. So it’s a good idea to remember the following points:

• You will normally be expected to be highly motivated throughout your project placement. They will expect you to be responsible, enterprising, enthusiastic and keen to get involved.
• You will normally be working as a full-time member of staff, which usually means a 37-hour working week (for more details, please check the information applying to your degree programme).
• You will not receive any salary, because your project placement is a learning process. Danish students will continue to receive their grants (known as “SU” in Danish), but international students should check the rules applying to their own university. Please remember that project placements involve full-time work – you should not expect to have much time to take a student job on the side. The Danish scholarship guide (Legathåndbogen) contains more information about scholarships for which you might be able to apply.

Before you start, it’s a good idea to discuss what you expect of your host organisation, and what they expect of you. Arrange a meeting with them to talk about these expectations. This is also your chance to ask any questions you might have – for instance about the jobs they will ask you to do. Who will be your contact at the host organisation? Which empirical data will you be able to use in your assignment/report?

1. Finding your host organisation

Project placements are advertised by both private and public companies and organisations in the AU Job- and Project bank. There are plenty of project placements to choose from. In fact, there are more advertised project placements than students. If a particular company has caught your interest, you can also send them an unsolicited application.  

2. Applying for a host organisation

Once you have found an interesting project placement, you need to write a CV and an application. On our website, you can read more about how to write an application (unsolicited or not) and a CV. You are also welcome to book an appointment with a career guidance counsellor if you want some feedback on your CV and application.

3. Getting a contract

The project placement contract is a contract between the host organisation and you. This contract is a joint responsibility – both parties need to reach agreement about the tasks involved in the project placement, as well as its duration. Your project placement contract is also subject to the advance approval of a supervisor at your school. It’s a good idea to involve this supervisor when drawing up the contract before making a final draft. This is a good way to ensure that whatever you agree with your host organisation will be approved by the supervisor, which means that you won’t have to ask your host organisation to change the wording of the contract at some later point in time. You are welcome to contact the student counsellor for your degree programme if you need advice about your project placement. You can also find plenty of information about rules regarding project placements, submitting the project placement contract and much more here. 

4. During your project placement

During your project placement you will be asked to perform the tasks which you and your host organisation have agreed on. It might be a good idea to write down your experiences, tasks and reflections in a notebook so you can remember what you have been working on during the project placement. These notes will make it easier for you to update your CV when you have completed the project placement.

5. Writing and submitting your assignment/report, and waiting for the result

The form of your report (and the way it is assessed) depends on which degree programme you are studying. For further information about the assignment/report, you should check your academic regulations. Remember to ask your host organisation to give you a reference. This will be useful when you start looking for a job, and you can also add your colleagues to your LinkedIn network so you can stay in touch with them after the end of your project placement. It’s often a good idea to offer to present your report/assignment to your host organisation. This will give you a great chance to see how your academic results, analyses etc. can be used in the real world to create value in practice.

Please note that students are not allowed to receive a salary in connection with project placements in Denmark. If you are paid a salary, your project placement will not be approved – so it cannot be included as part of your degree programme.

The term “salary” includes any sums of money that you receive apart from documented expenses relating to your project placement.

However, during your project placement you are allowed to receive a gratuity of up to DKK 3,000 per month from your host organisation. Your host organisation must decide whether they want to give you a gratuity or not, but it must not be paid in the form of a fixed income that you can reckon on (it must not resemble a salary).

Read more about gratuities and student grants during project placements here.

Project placements abroad

If you are doing a project placement abroad, you are allowed to receive a salary if the country concerned requires students to be paid during project placements.

Project placements abroad must meet the same academic requirements and have the same content as project placements in Denmark.