Doing an internship provides students at Leiden University College with a great opportunity to apply the content covered in a classroom setting in real-life situations. We encourage research internships, in which students participate in research programs (e.g. to get data for their capstone projects), as well as work-oriented internships. When interested, please talk to your academic advisor first.

Finding an internship

It is the responsibility of the student to identify an appropriate internship partner. A summer internship opportunity can be found by using your own social network, a parent’s network or a network of a LUC staff member. Your Tutor or Academic Advisor is your first point of contact to discuss the possibilities of an internship. Examples of internships include (but are certainly not limited to!) research in a science lab, a summer position at an embassy and working at a NGO or archive. We encourage students to find an organisation that fits their interests.

Accreditation of Internship

There are two ways of doing internships at LUC. First, all LUC students can participate in internship programmes outside their studies at LUC. These types of internships are often greatly beneficial to students, but fall outside the scope of this handbook. Second, students can apply to have their internship count towards their degree. Students may only submit applications for an internship for credits after completing their first year at LUC. In this scenario, an internship may be eligible for an accreditation of a maximum of 5 ECTS that count as an elective towards the required 180 ECTS of an LUC degree as a 200-level course. Such an internship will be evaluated with a Pass or Fail mark, which will not count towards the student’s GPA.

In order to apply for this accreditation, an internship application must meet the following requirements:

1. Students must NOT be on academic or social probation as defined in the student handbook.

2. The internship comprises of at least 140 hours of work (5 ECTS).

3. The internship has to be part of the student’s study plan at LUC and recognized as such by the LUC internship coordinator.

4. The student has completed all the necessary steps as detailed in the internship handbook.

Most students will do their internships during Winter break (January) or over the summer. However, if you plan to do your internship during the semester, as a course substitute, you must make sure that you are still taking sufficient courses to fulfil the fulltime course load requirement (i.e. 30 credits per semester). Please contact your study advisor as soon as possible in order to discuss your study plans.

Timeline and costs

Please remember to consider the amount of time you need to organise an internship. Internships opportunities abroad may need additional preparation such as arranging a visa and health checks.

Scholarships are available for those students who choose to have their internship count towards their degree. The LUSTRA scholarship for destinations outside Europe and the Erasmus Scholarship for an internship within Europe. Note that these scholarships are only available if you apply at least two months in advance. Contact the FGGA IO international@fgga.leidenuniv.nl  for more information.

Documents and Deadlines

Applications submitted during or after completion of the internship will not be considered.

• Please allow at least 6 to 8 weeks to complete the required forms and internship proposal prior to the start of the internship. Without the approval of your LUC Internship Coordinator, LUC supervisor and the supervisor of the host organisation, students cannot commence their internship for credits.
• The final internship report must be submitted within 4 weeks after the last day of the internship. Missing this deadline will result in a Fail mark for the internship.
• Students must submit the required forms and internship proposal prior to the start and at the end of their internships. Failing to submit these documents in time will lead to an uncredited and unmarked internship.  

Please email the Internship Coordinator (internships@luc.leidenuniv.nl) for further questions.