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Internships at the University of Potsdam

Bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. students can carry out an internship at the University of Potsdam, whether in the administration or directly with the chairs of research. To do so, you will have to contact the chair or department where you want to carry out an internship and discuss with them the extent to which they currently have the need or capacity for on-site supervision. All documents and confirmations are signed and issued by the department where the internship will take place.

Internship Contract
An Internship Contract must be filled out prior to the (research) internship at the University of Potsdam and signed by

  • the intern,
  • and the dean of the faculty or the head of department of the host internship office.

The signed contract and proof of insurance and, if applicable, the compulsory internship (see below for duration) must be sent in advance to the host institution.

For more Information see: https://www.intern.uni-potsdam.de/u/dezernat3/formulare/index_07.html.

Enrollment
Students who are not studying at the University of Potsdam cannot be enrolled as interns at the University of Potsdam during the period of their internship.  However, an intern can also use all services such as library, university email, etc. without enrolling.  Reduced prices at the cafeteria are based on the payment of semester fees, and typically interns do not receive reduced prices. Please contact the Association for Student Affairs (Studentenwerk) for individual agreements. Interns can apply to the Verkehrsbund Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB) for a monthly ticket for school pupils and trainees. The internship contract must be presented.

Funding and Insurance
An internship at the University of Potsdam is typically unpaid. Especially for students from abroad, there are different scholarships (e.g. RISE, IAESTE, Erasmus+), which guarantee financial support for a (research) internship on site.

During the internship in Germany it is strongly recommended to acquire health insurance – international students should consider this in good time before starting their internship.  In some cases it would be sensible, but it is not mandatory,  to be covered by a private liability insurance e. g. if the internship involves working with costly equipment or in a laboratory. Public accident insurance for interns of the University of Potsdam will be granted/administered by the federal accident insurance agency of Brandenburg (UKBB).

Duration
Because the University of Potsdam does not offer paid internships, and the minimum wage law applies in Germany, internships are usually only carried out for a maximum of 3 months.
The three-month rule can only be exceeded if the more than 3 months durating internship is of a compulsory nature and is envisioned in the curriculum of the current degree program. A proof (e.g. copy of study regulations) or a certificate issued by the sending university must be enclosed with the internship contract by the intern before the start of the internship.

Research Stays
This does not affect longer research stays within the framework of the dissertation or by visiting scientists at the chairs. International doctoral candidates and post-docs should contact the Welcome Center at the University of Potsdam.