The Mechanical Engineering degrees (both Bachelor's and Master's) at the Department of Engineering offer their students the opportunity to undertake internships in companies or institutions (company internship) or in a laboratory of the Department of Engineering (internal internship) as an integral part of their career. An internship allows the student to gain experience in a real business or in an applied research environment, enabling them to experiment with the practical application of the theoretical concepts learned in their degrees. The internship often represents for the student a valuable gateway to the world of work or research.
During their activity the student is supervised by a company tutor (chosen from the staff of the company, institution, or laboratory where the internship is carried out) and a university tutor (chosen from the teaching staff of the Study Programme).
The internship activity carried out by the student is subject to a final evaluation by a committee of professors (Internship Committee, see below) who will examine the activity performed, presented by the student in an appropriate form (report or presentation slides), assigning it a suitability judgement. In the case of a positive evaluation, the student will earn the corresponding credits (ECTS) in compliance with their study plan, as established by the degree regulations.
Before the internship
Type of internship
The internship can be corporate (company internship) or internal.
- The company internship can be carried out:
- At a company that the Department of Engineering has an agreement with (see section 'Agreement with the hosting institution').
- The internal internship can be carried out:
- At one of the officially recognised laboratories of the Department of Engineering as detailed in the corresponding list;
- Within the Unipg Racing Team – Formula Student.
Number of ECTS
The maximum number of ECTS that can be earned through an internship is specified in the following table (1 ECTS credit corresponds to 25 hours of activity carried out at the host institution).
| Degree | Type of internship | Max ECTS allowed |
|---|---|---|
| BSc Mechanical Engineering | Company | 12 |
| Internal | 6 | |
| MSc Mechanical Engineering | Company | 8 (1) 9 (2) |
| Internal | 4 |
(1)For students who started their degree before A.Y. 2024/2025 included
(2) For students who started their degree after A.Y. 2025/2026
The internship carried out within the Unipg Racing Team – Formula Student is equivalent to a company internship.
Bonus for completing an internship with the maximum number of ECTS allowed
Starting from the July 2024 graduation session, a bonus of 1 point will be added to the final degree grade for students who have completed an internship acquiring the maximum number of credits allowed (see the related table).
Internship offers
Students are invited to review the internship offers advertised on the billboard (also available at the bottom of this page) before proceeding further.
Conditions of incompatibility
It is not possible to carry out an internship at the same company where you are employed.
Agreement with the host institution
In the case of a company internship, that is, in any situation when the host institution is not the Department of Engineering, it will be necessary to preliminarily verify the existence of an agreement between the Department of Engineering and the host institution by consulting the relevant list. It will also be necessary to verify that the duration of the agreement covers the entire period of the internship.
If the agreement is not present, it will be necessary to activate a new one. In this case, it will be the student's responsibility to submit the agreement proposal directly to the BSc and MSc coordinator (Prof. Filippo Cianetti, filippo.cianetti@unipg.it) ) for a preliminary evaluation. In the case of a positive preliminary evaluation, the company will provide the following documents, filled out in all the required fields and with the relevant signatures:
-
- the agreement (word-template-IT);(pdf-template-IT)
- the data process agreement (DPA).
The above must be submitted in original to the Teaching Secretariat of the Department of Engineering (Ms. Stella Migliosi).
T3 and internship plan forms
Once the existence and validity of the agreement have been verified or, in the absence of this, a new agreement has been finalised, the student will proceed to submit the following documents:
- T3 form;
- Internship plan (for company internships only).
The above must be:
- Filled out in electronic format (therefore free from handwritten parts – except for signatures);
- Sent as a scanned document (not photographed) in pdf format to the Internship Committee (see below);
- Delivered in original paper format to the Teaching Secretariat of the Department of Engineering (Ms. Stella Migliosi).
It will be the student's responsibility to submit the forms completed with all the required signatures (except for the Department Director's signature, which will be added later). Please note that forms filled out by hand, those with corrections, or those missing the required signatures will not be accepted.
Given that processing the internship requests requires a certain amount of time from the Committee, it is recommended to submit the requested documents at least one month before the scheduled start date of the internship.
We also recommend indicating a time frame broader than strictly necessary to cover the total number of hours required. This is to allow for the recovery of any days/hours of absence due to illness or any other cause. In any case the duration of the internship cannot exceed twelve months (twenty-four in the case of individuals with disabilities).
Before starting the internship – in the case of a company internship – it is essential that the student verify that they have received a copy of the INAIL communication for the activation of the work insurance policy, otherwise the internship cannot begin. Please contact the internship commission should you not receive this communication 10 days before the scheduled start date.
During the internship
The intern shall record the attendance at the host institution (date, entry time, exit time, number of hours worked) in the appropriate log on a daily basis.
After the internship
Upon completion of the internship the student shall submit the following documents:
- The attendance record (see section ‘During the internship’);
- A brief but sufficiently comprehensive report that illustrates the activities carried out (the format is free);
- The intern evaluation questionnaire;
- The evaluation questionnaire of the host structure :
- Filled out by the company tutor in the case of a company internship (company form)
- Filled out by the university tutor in the case of an academic internship (university form);
The above must be sent to the Internship Committee in a scanned PDF version complete with the relevant signatures where required.
Internship committee
Prof. Francesco Bianconi (francesco.bianconi@unipg.it), Prof. Massimiliano Palmieri (massimiliano.palmieri@unipg.it)