The internship is part of the Master’s cycle. It cannot take place before the successful completion of the Bachelor’s degree and must be completed prior to starting the Master’s project.

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

The internship format recognized for your curriculum is the Internship credited with the Master’s project (STAP “STAge crédité avec le Projet de Master”). The internship and the Master’s project are separate, but credits are awarded along with those of the Master’s project – 30 ECTS credits in total. EPFL does not require a written internship report.

Only for students in Electrical Engineering

The students in Electrical Engineering have the possibility to carry out an Internship for separate credits (SCS “Stage à Crédits Séparés”). The successful completion of the internship is worth 30 ECTS credits. The duration is between 4 to 6 months and an “Internship Activity and Transversal Skills Analysis” report (available on Moodle) is requested by EPFL. The report must be submitted to the Electrical Engineering section and STI Internship coordination no later than two weeks after the internship ends.

Doing a SCS implies that the Master’s project must be completed at EPFL or another academic institution, and no minor may be pursued, except for the Energy minor.

There are two ways to find an internship:

• On IS-Academia: The IS-Academia internships portal is accessible to students through their IS-A account and contains a list of internships proposed by companies and validated by the section before being published. Apply to internships of interest by submitting, at a minimum, your CV and a motivation letter.

• Through your personal investigations: Once you have found an opportunity, fill in the request for validation form (available on Moodle) and send it to your section for the topic and company validation.

• Once you have found your internship, inform the STI internship coordination (internships.sti@epfl.ch).
  ⚠️ For internships found outside the IS-Academia portal: provide a copy of the duly signed validation request form.
• Cancel all ongoing applications by notifying the companies and update the IS-Academia application status with “hired elsewhere”.
• Fill in the tripartite EPFL standard internship agreement (available on Moodle) and obtain signatures from the company and yourself before submitting it to your section, which will sign it as the final party.
• Provide a copy of the fully signed internship agreement to the company.
• If you found your internship from the list provided on IS-Academia, update your initial registration by completing the required fields (exact dates of internship, contact details of the company supervisor, etc.).
• If you found your internship through your own investigations, register it on the IS-Academia internships portal (company, dates, company supervisor’s name and e-mail, etc.).
• If your internship takes place during a semester, update your FRAC as described below in “Academic Registration Form” (FRAC).

• For students from third countries (non EU/EFTA countries) doing an internship in Switzerland: ask the company to request a work authorization for the duration of the internship. The internship cannot start before the company has received the authorization.
• For EU/EFTA students doing an internship in Switzerland: ask the company to inform the competent authorities. The internship can begin as soon as the announcement has been submitted.
• For students going abroad: inform yourself about the necessary legal and health requirements of the destination, especially concerning visas or residence permits. You are responsible to take care of all administrative formalities required (visa, working authorization, vaccines, etc.). Generally, the host company, or a sponsoring agency (USA) provides assistance, but the responsibility for all of these requirements remains yours (and/or the employer). Check out  https://securite.epfl.ch/travel  for advice and resources that can help planning your travel.

To get an EPFL certificate stating that the internship is a mandatory part of the student’s studies, and that the student is still registered as an EPFL student during his/her internship, fill in the form.

For students doing an internship during an academic semester:

• If you are not validating any courses, you have to register as “internship” in FRAC. This semester does not count toward the 6-semesters limit for completing your Master’s cycle (excluding the PDM semesters) and you are exempted from the tuition fee (you only pay CHF 50 for that semester).

• If you are validating other courses, you have to register as “present” in FRAC. Taking courses during the internship must be approved by your section as well as your host company. This semester counts toward the 6-semesters limit for completing your Master’s cycle (excluding the PDM semesters) and the full tuition fee is due.

• For an internship with separate credits (SCS), you have to register as “paid internship” in FRAC. The semester counts toward the 6-semesters limit for completing your Master’s cycle (excluding the PDM semesters) and the full tuition fee is due.

Internships taking place during academic breaks should not be mentioned in FRAC.

If the dates of the internship are modified with regard to the initial contract, inform the STI internship coordination, who will make an amendment to the internship agreement and will revise the dates in the academic registrar.

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 company supervisor have to fill out an evaluation report.

The success or failure of the internship is determined by your section based on the company supervisor’s evaluation (and on the written report for the students from the Electrical Engineering section carrying out an internship with separate credits – SCS).

Relevant forms (and the slide deck of the information session) can be found on the STI Internships Moodle (EPFL access only).

STI – Internship Program Administration :

• Ms. Valérie Berger – STI Internship Coordinator (internships.sti@epfl.ch)
• Ms. Mélanie Thuillard – STI Internship Administration Support (internships.sti@epfl.ch)

Mechanical Engineering

Mr. Sébastien Soubielle

• Validation of internships (topic and company) found outside the IS-Academia internship portal
• Signature of the internship agreement
• Retroactive validation of an internship
• Special requests (e.g. part-time work, taking courses, etc).

Microengineering / Robotics

Mr. Abdeljalil Sayah

• Validation of internships (topic and company) found outside the IS-Academia internship portal
• Signature of the internship agreement

Ms. Elmira Shahrabi

• Retroactive validation of an internship
• Special requests (e.g. part-time work, taking courses, etc).

Materials Science and Engineering

Ms. Béatrice Marselli Fuerer

• Validation of internships (topic and company) found outside the IS-Academia internship portal
• Signature of the internship agreement
• Retroactive validation of an internship
• Special requests (e.g. part-time work, taking courses, etc).

Electrical Engineering / Energy Science and Technology

Mr. Philippe Gay-Balmaz

• Validation of internships (topic and company) found outside the IS-Academia internship portal
• Signature of the internship agreement
• Retroactive validation of an internship
• Special requests (e.g. part-time work, taking courses, etc).