Internship in Industry

A compulsory 12 week (full time) internship in industry (inside or outside Switzerland) must be completed before commencing the Master’s Thesis. It can be undertaken at any time, however it is recommended that students do it as early as possible (even before the first semester).

The main objective of the industrial internship is to bring the student into contact with an industrial professional work environment, with the opportunity to be involved in ongoing projects. The internship can be carried out either in industry or in a service company.

This internship is full-time and cannot be combined with classes.

Upon successful completion of an industrial internship, students will be awarded 12 credits ECTS.

Internship Process

The student must find their own internship, either by asking any of the programme's tutors, direct inquiry to a company within the field of interest or, occasionally, offers are posted on the MEST Open Internship Positions along with a selection of internship platforms.

Prior to commencement of the internship, students are requested to submit a short description of the planned internship to the in order to verify that it fulfils the relevant criteria. 

On completion of the internship, the student needs to provide two documents:

- official confirmation from the employer stating the nature of the work, the duration, and a final assessment of the student's performance (certificate of work);  

- a short (1-2 page A4) report written by the student about their experience with the company during the internship.

These documents need to be emailed to the D-ITET Student Office (ETZ H 85) in order for the internship to be credited.

Students should enrol for a Leave of Absence from the ETH whilst undertaking their internship. This is completed via myStudies by selecting the option 'Apply for leave of absence’ and needs to be done within the usual semester deadlines. Failure to do so will result in being charged fees for the semester.