The Internship aims at offering students the opportunity to gain an initial professional experience as well as the connection of the Department with enterprises and businesses. The institution of Internship is active at the Department of Chemical Engineering since the mid-1980s. By 1993 it is included in the elective courses. At the University of Patras, Internship is an elective course included in the second Group of the elective courses and it is offered at the fourth year of studies, at the 8th semester (Course ID: CHM_898, Practical Training in Industry). The Internship’s duration is about 4 to 10 weeks and aims at the following:  

  • To assist students to become acquainted to the application of the science they study in real working conditions that include all the parameters such as scientific, technical, economic, legal, social, security etc.  
  • To assist students to acquire work experience as it is required and described by businesses, organizations and modern labor market.
  • To assist students to develop professional awareness and skills that will contribute in their expertise as well as in selecting the most appropriate and efficient field for employment in their future.
  • To prepare students to move smoother from the academic stage to the professional arena emphasizing in planning, collaboration, productivity, efficiency, hierarchy, acceptance of responsibility and job evaluation.
  • To assist students to connect the academic field to the and simultaneously to create interactive and informative, understanding and effective teamwork environment among the University, the Internship hosts, beneficial to all.
  • To assist students to acquire experience and expertise facilitating them to enter into the labor market with better conditions.

The number of students who choose to conduct an Internship is about 20 to 50 each year,that corresponds to a percentage of 30% to 70%. Their participation varies, depending on the availability of a funding project such as EΠΕΑΕΚ, ΕΣΠΑ which provides financial support and health insurance. Since 1993 the Department has completed three projects of Internships in the context of ΕΠΕΑΕΚ while for the years 2011-2014 a project in the context of ΕΣΠΑ has been approved with a budget of €100,000. The above project has been extended for two years, thus until 2015.

It is suggested the Internship to be conducted by using the offering positions of the interconnected companies. In this case, students are encouraged to seek working positions for their Internship (insurance, payment), the cost of which will be covered by the company that they will be hired. 

At a European level, the provision of working positions in the context of Internship, is provided by the mobility program LLP/ERASMOUS Placements. (http://www.upatras.gr/el/node/5647http://ec.europa.eu/education/erasmus/placement_en.htm).

For the conduction of an Internship, a three-member committee of faculty members is organized under the course’s instructor Chemeng898 (Exercise in Industry, Business) in order to coordinate the positions’ offers by the businesses, conduct the relevant communication, prepares and distributes informative brochures, identifies the Internships’ subject and duration, monitors the Internships’ implementation, receives and evaluates the technical reports and finally arranges a Workshop for the presentation and the evaluation of the Internship of each student.

The necessary requirements that allow a student to conduct an Internship are the following:

  • The Internship’s duration should be at least 4 weeks whereas it shouldn’t exceed the 8 weeks. Moreover, it should be conducted in businesses and institutions that their activity lies in the field of Chemical engineering.
  • The companies/institutions may be located either in Greece or abroad.
  • The students can select the company that they will conduct their Internship either from the list that is posted by the Department or they can find by them by themselves and propose them as new ones.
     

In case of relevant funding, the Internship’s program offers compensation which is proportional to its duration and to the cost of insurance of each trainee. 

The organization of the course in which Internship is included consists the following:

  • The conduction of a seminar which focuses on informing the students that are interested in doing an Internship.
  • The announcement of a list that includes the companies and businesses which offer positions for Internship.
  • The conduction of tours and visits in companies that offer positions for Internship and that are directly connected to Chemical Engineering’s science.
  • The contact among the enterprises and the organizations.
  • The organization of a two-day seminar for the presentations of the Internships’ results.

The above mentioned procedure are conducted in collaboration with the Internship’s Office at the University of Patras.

The process of doing an Internship includes the following steps:

  • After the communication and agreement for Internship’s implementation, the student proposes the company he wants to work.
  • Quadripartite agreement is signed among the University, the Department, the selected Company/Implementation Body and the student.
  • Internship’s implementation.
  • The trainee writes and delivers a report on the subject of the Internship he had conducted.
  • A Workshop for the students’ work presentation in conducted at the Department.
  • Evaluation of student’s reports and overall performance by those who are responsible for the Internship’s implementation as well as by the designated committee.
  • The total scores are sent to the Registry to ensure that the course has been succeeded.