FAQ

For the recognition of an internship please submit the required documents to the Internship Office. You can submit your documents by e-mail from your @student.kit.edu-account, drop them in our postbox (on the first floor in building 10.91), send by post or hand in the documents personally (Monday to Thursday from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.) in our office (Building 10.91, 2nd floor, room 225).

In the Bachelor's degree programs Mechanical Engineering (Study and examination regulations (SPO) 2023) and Mechanical Engineering International (MEI) (Study and examination regulations (SPO) 2024), the internship is a compulsory internship. In addition to a work certificate for the internship, an internship report signed by the company of 0.5 pages per internship week must be prepared and submitted (for details, see the respective internship regulations).

As an admission requirement for the Master's degree program a work certificate for the internship is requested (for details, see the respective internship regulations).

The certificate must formally correspond to an employer 's reference (with information on intern status, duration, etc.). In addition, the activities carried out during the internship must be described in detail. According to the German Federal Labor Court, a certificate must be written on company stationery and have proper letterhead.

Yes, at least the required number of weeks must be proven in the certificate (one working week usually corresponds to 35-40 hours/full-time).

That depends on the apprenticeship. Under certain circumstances, it can be recognized as a basic internship. Please submit your documents to the Internship Office for review.

Yes, if the requirements for recognition are met. Please submit your proof of hours of practical activities issued by the school to the Internship Office for review.

Yes, if the interim certificate meets the requirements in terms of content and form.

Yes. Absence days during the internship must be made up. Public holidays do not count as days of absence and therefore do not have to be made up.

If original documents have been submitted, they must be collected from the Internship Office four weeks after recognition. Original documents that have not been collected will be destroyed two years after this deadline.

Yes. For data protection reasons, a power of attorney must be issued for this purpose. Please write an e-mail to the Internship Office (important: from your @student.kit.edu-account) and state the name and, if applicable, the matriculation number of the person who will need to identify himself/herself (student ID, personal ID) when collecting your documents.

No.

You can submit reports, certificates and contracts to the Internship Office in both, English and German.

Please contact the Internship Office immediately.

Under certain circumstances, yes. You can obtain further information from the BAföG office.

For example, via relevant search engines on the internet or via advertisements from companies on their websites.

Yes, if you have worked as an engineer (i.e. after graduation). Please submit a reference/certificate and proof of your degree.

No. Internships completed at research institutions such as the Fraunhofer Institute, DLR, European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), etc. are not eligible for recognition.

No.

Students starting in winter semester 2023/24 (Bachelor's degree program Mechanical Engineering) or winter semester 2024/25 (Bachelor's degree program Mechanical Engineering International (MEI)) must provide evidence of a 12-week professional internship. A maximum of four weeks can be completed as a basic internship.

No! The entire internship can also be carried out as a specialized internship.

The duration is 18 working weeks. A work week usually includes 5 days, unless it includes a public holiday.

An internship report must be written as a part of the compulsory internship. The report should be approx. 0.5 pages long for each week of the internship. For more details, see the internship regulations.

Students starting from winter semester 2024/25 must provide evidence of a 12-week professional internship. A maximum of four weeks can be completed as a basic internship.

Students starting up to and including summer semester 2024 must provide evidence of a 18-week professional internship. A maximum of six weeks can be completed as a basic internship.

No! The entire internship can also be carried out as a specialized internship.

No. Recognition can only be issued after enrollment. Please submit your documents to the internship office so that there can be checked the extent to which your practical activities can be recognized.

The professional internship must be completed by the end of the third semester of the Master's degree program at the latest. Otherwise you will not be able to re-register for the fourth semester.

No, because the admission regulations stipulate that the internship must be completed by the end of the third semester and before registering for the Master's thesis.

The duration is 12 (18) working weeks. A working week usually consists of 5 full-time days. Public holidays do not have to be made up.

Yes, this is possible. However, recognition is only possible after enrollment in the Master's degree program. Please submit the relevant documents to the Internship Office as soon as possible.

Information can be found on the homepage of SLE.

Mechanical Engineering: For students according to SPO 2015, this is possible for a voluntary internship that serves the study goal. For students according to SPO 2023 this is only possible if the compulsory internship has been completed and recognized and the planned internship differs in terms of content or areas of activity and qualification goals (e.g. due to a different industry affiliation or an internship abroad if previous internships were completed in Germany).

Mechanical Engineering International: For students according to SPO 2017, this is possible for a voluntary internship that serves the study goal. For students according to SPO 2024 this is only possible if the compulsory internship has been completed and recognized and the planned internship differs in terms of content or areas of activity and qualification goals (e.g. due to a different industry affiliation or an internship abroad if previous internships were completed in Germany).

You will need a fully completed application for leave of absence. Please make sure that you enter the semester correctly and write "Bachelor's degree program Mechanical Engineering (International)" in the field "study program". You must also submit a copy of the contract for the internship to be completed during the semester of leave you are applying for.

If you have already completed the compulsory internship and it has been recognized, please submit additionally a statement explaining how the planned internship differs from previous internships in terms of content, areas of activity and qualification goals.

The requirement is that the 12 (18) weeks of professional internship stipulated in the admission statutes have been fully completed and recognized. In this case, however, a semester of leave is only possible if the internship planned for the semester of leave applied differs from previously completed internships in terms of content or areas of activity and qualification goals (e.g. due to a different industry affiliation or an internship abroad if previous internships were completed in Germany). Please submit a corresponding statement in addition to the fully completed application for leave of absence and the internship contract. Please make sure that you enter the semester correctly and write "Master's degree program Mechanical Engineering" in the field "study program". You must also submit a copy of the certificate of the internship certificate which has been recognized by the Internship Office as a prerequisite for admission ("Auflagenpraktikum") to the Master's degree program in Mechanical Engineering.

Please consider the deadlines stated in the application for leave of absence and take into account corresponding processing times. If possible, the documents should be submitted to the Internship Office four weeks before the start of the applied semester of leave.

Bachelor's degree program Mechanical Engineering: Students according to SPO 2023 can obtain this on request from the Internship Office. Students according to SPO 2015 do not meet the legal requirements for this, as the internship is an admission requirement for the Master's degree program in Mechanical Engineering and not part of the curriculum.

Bachelor's degree program Mechanical Engineering International (MEI): Students according to SPO 2024 can obtain this on request from the Internship Office. Students according to SPO 2017 do not meet the legal requirements for this, as the internship is an admission requirement for the Master's degree program in Mechanical Engineering and not part of the curriculum.

Master's degree program Mechanical Engineering: Since the internship is an admission requirement and not part of the curriculum, students do not fulfill the legal requirements.

In the Bachelor's degree program of Mechanical Engineering, this is possible for students according to SPO 2015 on request at the Internship Office, in the Bachelor's degree program of Mechanical Engineering International for students according to SPO 2017 and for students in the Master of Mechanical Engineering.

Due to the labor law and social insurance, a distinction is made between a voluntary internship and a compulsory internship.