Free Choice Module/Internship
The organization of modules as described above is also applicable for free choice modules and for internships.
*Internship (FREE2 module):
Internships are not mandatory, but will broaden your scope in plant sciences. The are a good opportunity to get a closer look at a working groups area of research and the people in a working group. Doing independent internship work in a research group can be helpful in deciding where to perform your master thesis work.
The maximal number of internships that can be credited is two. The maximum number of credit points for two FREE2 modules is 20 CP. You can choose between internal or external internships. However just one internship can be external.
External Free Choice Module / Internship
As indicated in the module table, credit points can be obtained for external practical lab courses or internships agreed upon on an individual basis.
External modules will not be organized by the program coordinator but by the student. However, before starting an external module, you must contact the head of the examination committee or the program coordinator for preliminary approval.
All internships in research groups not represented in the Internal Reviewers list are considered external.
The requirements for external “modules” at other universities or research institutions are as follows:
- Active participation in a research group in plant sciences or a plant sciences related field
- 10 (5) credit points can be obtained for a 6 (3) weeks, whole-day, practical laboratory work course
- The external supervisor (principal investigator) should be a Professor or group leader holding a PhD and having several years experience in personnel management.
- The primary supervisor should document the working period, the approaches taken in the lab and the techniques employed.
- The work/project needs a title (max 10 words / 80 characters) that will be listed on the mark sheet
- The student needs to prepare a laboratory protocol
- The external supervisor should review the protocol and grade it (see forms below).
- An independent, second grading of the protocol is provided by an internal lecturer/tutor of the Bonn University M.Sc. Plant Sciences program.
- This internal reviewer should be experienced in a field related to the external module.
- The final grade will be the arithmetic mean of the two grades given by the external supervisor and internal reviewer.
- If you would like to modify this requirement, e.g. if you like to give an oral presentation instead of a laboratory protocol, first contact the head of the M.Sc. examination committee or the program coordinator.
- The internal supervisor must be found before the internship start.
Recommendation: To assist you in deciding whether your intended external module is eligible for crediting (e.g. working in a garden center or routine analysis in medical laboratory is not adequate), please contact an internal lecturer/tutor before starting an external module. Thus, he/she is informed about the intended module and its presumed content and can agree on reviewing and grading the laboratory protocol.
The program coordinator may assist you in finding a suitable internal person in the M.Sc. Plant Sciences program.
Internal Free Choice Module / Internship
Fewer restrictions apply for practical free choice modules (FREE1 & FREE2) in research groups of internal PIs directly involved in the M.Sc. Plant Sciences program. A second internal reviewer is not required. However, as for external internships, the supervisor should shortly document the content of the project (e.g. investigating X with methods Y) and the time period. In addition, the supervisor has to grade your work (e.g. based on lab protocol or a results presentation etc.).
Forms for Registration and Grading of External and Internal Free Choice Modules / Internships:
External FREE2 Internship - Registration
External FREE2 Internship - Grading by External Supervisor
External FREE2 Internship - Grading by Internal Reviewer