Industry Internships: Students

The internship must last at least 8 consecutive weeks and no more than 6 months, full-time. It can take place during the semester or during semester breaks.

If it overlaps with a semester, the internship can continue at the latest until October 1st for the fall semester and March 1st for the spring semester.

If you are doing your internship during the semester:

• You have to register as “FRAC présent” if you’re validating other courses (maximum of 8 credits are allowed). It is under your own responsibility and it should have been discussed with the company. This semester will count toward the 6-semesters limit for completing your master’s cycle (excluding the PDM semesters).
• You have to register as “FRAC stage” if you are not validating any courses. This semester won’t count toward the 6-semesters limit for completing your master’s cycle (excluding the PDM semesters).

1 – Find an internship

There are two ways to find an internship:

• On IS-Academia: The IS-Academia “stages” portal is accessible to all students with preselected internships validated by the section. Apply to your internship of interest by submitting your CV and a motivation letter.
• Through your personal investigations: Once you’ve found an opportunity, send the description of the internship and the name of the company on the LSE support platform for pre-validation by the section. If the internship is pre-validated you can go on with step 2.

2 – Validate your internship

1. Once the company agreed to hire you for an internship, fill in the internship agreement and sign (you + the company)
2. Send the completed form on the LSE support platform for final validation and signature by the SV internship coordinator
3. Forward the signed internship agreement to the company
4. If you found it through your own investigations, register your internship on IS-Academia. If you found your internship on IS-Academia, ask the company to change your status to “hired” and complete the necessary information.

Your internship is only validated once it has been registered on IS-Academia.

3 – Evaluate your internship

At the end of the internship, fill out the evaluation report sent by email. The evaluation procedure starts 2 weeks prior to the official ending of the internship. Both the student and the supervisor have to fill out an evaluation report.

The SV internship coordinator then validates the 8 credits if you pass your internship.

Internship agreement and other information

An internship means working in a company where you apply the skills and knowledge learnt during your studies at EPFL. Jobs unrelated to your training, like summer jobs, are not considered as internships.

Yes, an internship in a company is mandatory for every EPFL Master student.

There is no geographical limitation for the internship provided it is done in a company.

A company eligible for an internship includes any organization, even non-profits, that isn’t involved in higher education.

In institutions like University Hospitals, internships are only allowed in service areas like central laboratory, imaging, nuclear medicine, pharmacy, etc. Fundamental research labs within the clinical setting are not acceptable, except if clearly linked to an industrial application.

After the validation of your internship (cf instructions above), registration has to be done through IS-Academia. If you have found the internship by your own means, add it to the portal. It is important not to register for the BIOENG-596 course under any circumstances.

Unless required by the company, the SV section doesn’t require you to write a report for your internship. 

However a written evaluation from your internship supervisor, as well as your evaluation of the internship is mandatory for the validation of the internship by the SV internship coordinator. An email will be automatically sent two weeks before the end of the internship to your supervisor and to yourself.

As a Master student, the monthly salary should range between CHF 1’000 – 2’000. For information purposes, the Swiss authorities (service de l’emploi) expect an internship to be paid about CHF 2’000/month in Switzerland. This will be a requirement to deliver the working authorization for students coming from countries located out of the European Union.

No, it is your responsibility to check if you have appropriate insurances covering illness, accidents and personal liability.

Usually a two-way contract will be signed between the student and the company but EPFL also requires an internship agreement to be signed by the company, the student and EPFL (represented by the SV internship coordinator). This agreement covers all the issues related to an internship position, and in most cases is accepted by the companies.

If a company is not willing to sign this document and proposes another agreement, please contact the SV internship coordinator through the LSE support platform.

To have an internship validated retroactively, the following conditions must be met:

1. The internship was completed no more than 2 years before starting the EPFL Master program.
2. It wasn’t already validated for a previous university degree.
3. The internship contract must be provided.
4. The internship meets EPFL’s standard criteria for industry internships.
5. Your supervisor can still evaluate your internship, even if he/she changed jobs.

Please send your request on the LSE support platform.

No, your industry internship must be completed before the start of your PDM.

You can combine your industry internship with your Master project (PDM) in the same company, under certain conditions: 

1. The internship should focus on industrial objectives, while the PDM should deepen your knowledge in life sciences and show your ability to do independent research or advanced development work.
2. The internship must be completed before the PDM, and you need to have finished all other Master’s cycle groups/blocks (except the “Industry internship” group).
3. You can do either the PDM or a lab immersion in industry (22 credits), but not both.
4. The validation process of the industry internship combined to the PDM has to be done independently:
   1. Industry internship: The usual rules and process apply, check above for detailed procedures.
   2. PDM: Duration is 17 weeks (plus 1 week holiday) or 25 weeks (plus 1 week holiday). You need an EPFL supervisor to approve the PDM topic and submit a registration form on the LSE support platform. An agreement for the PDM is optional, under the supervisor’s responsibility. Please refer to the Master project page for details and documents