Introduction
Students who are following the Science Communication and Society specialisation are required to complete 20-40 EC of internship(s). Internships will be in the field of science communication (e.g. science journalism, museology, new media, health communication). The total internship period may consist of one internship, or can be divided into 2 smaller internships. Each internship includes a written report and an oral presentation. The total internship period includes a minimum of 10 EC of
research in science communication. The choice of internships should be approved beforehand by the coordinator of the specialisation (and sometimes the MSc programme coordinator).
Types of internship
Students can choose from three types of internships:
Research internship: all credits are spent on a research study that is done either at the SCS department or at an external organization.
Practical internship with a research component: the research component has to be at least 10 EC and is done at an external organization, in combination with practical assignments (for example: a target group research at a magazine, combined with writing articles).
Practical internship with separate research: during the internship, the student spends all his or her time working at the internship organization; besides that, the student spends at least 10 EC on a separate research project at the SCS department or a different organization.
Background knowledge
Students who want to do an SCS internship are required to follow the Science Communication and Society Fundamentals course first.
Assessment
During the internship, students send a monthly progress report to their SCS supervisor.
Half way through the internship, students have a midterm evaluation with their daily supervisor.
At the end of the internship, students write an internship report and give a presentation.
The final grade for the internship consists of (1) a grade for the performance of the internship (60%), (2) a grade for the internship report (30%), and (3) a grade for the presentation (10%). Each of these need to be a passing grade. In addition, both the reflection report as well as the research report (if applicable) need to be a passing grade.
More information
Coordinator of the SCS programme is Dr. Anne Land.
If you are interested in the SCS specialisation or any of the courses, please request an application form at infoscs@biology.leidenuniv.nl.
More information can be found at our website.