Internships

Internships serve to give students practical experience in scientific, technical, or professional contexts related to computational linguistics and language technology.

In internships, students carry out practical work in the area of language technology, either at the Department of Computational Linguistics or at an external company or organization. Internal internships usually take place in the context of scientific projects. External internships take place in professional settings, such as Swiss or foreign companies, public institutions, research-oriented organizations, or other organizations connected to language technology.

Internal internships (Module name "Practical Training In-House") can be credited with 6 or 9 ECTS. External internships (Module name "Practical Training Off-Site") can be credited with 3 or 6 ECTS. The number of ECTS credits is determined in consultation with the module coordinator. The module details specify 180 hours for 6 ECTS and 270 hours for 9 ECTS for in-house practical training, and 90 hours for 3 ECTS and 180 hours for 6 ECTS for off-site practical training.

Learning Objectives

Students learn to:

• gain practical experience in computational linguistics and language technology
• apply knowledge from their studies to practical tasks
• complete assigned project tasks
• contribute to evaluation processes
• understand organizational structures and processes
• deepen topic-specific skills
• document their practical work

Requirements

Internship modules cannot be booked by students themselves. The booking must be authorized by the module coordinator, and self-enrollment via the booking tool is not possible. The module is booked by the module coordinator for the semester in which the main part of the work was carried out and recorded as passed. The internship may begin before the official start of the semester.    

For an external internship, students must have passed all compulsory modules. A prior application must be approved by the module coordinator before the internship can be credited.  

There is no entitlement to an internship module. Internal internships are offered only if a suitable position is available in a project.  

Internal Internships: Practical Training In-House

Students must independently find a supervisor at the Department of Computational Linguistics. They usually contact lecturers whose courses they have previously completed in order to inquire about possible involvement in a related project.

Internal internships provide practical experience in scientific project work. Activities may include reading research literature, preparing and annotating data, applying statistical and machine learning methods, contributing to evaluation processes, and supporting workshop or conference publications. Students work on a defined subproblem within a scientific project.

External Internships: Practical Training Off-Site

Students must independently find an internship placement. Swiss and foreign companies, public institutions, research-oriented organizations, and other organizations are suitable, provided that the internship is connected to computational linguistics, language technology, or a closely related professional field.

Before the external internship begins, students must contact the module coordinator by email and provide information about the organization, their role, and the planned tasks, so that it can be clarified whether the internship can be credited.  

Effort

The required workload depends on the module and the number of ECTS credits:

• 3 ECTS: 90 hours
• 6 ECTS: 180 hours
• 9 ECTS: 270 hours

The tasks, role, and expected workload should be clarified before the internship begins.

Submission and Crediting

For an internal internship, the supervisor sends an email to the module coordinator after completion of the internship. See the administrative details in the UZH Course Catalogue.

For an external internship, the student sends an email to the module coordinator after completion of the internship. See the administrative details in the UZH Course Catalogue.

Students from third countries, that is, non-EU/EFTA nationals, may need a permit to work or complete an external internship in Switzerland. According to UZH Career Services, only the future employer can apply for this permit, and the requirements may vary by canton. Students should therefore clarify the relevant permit requirements early with the employer and, where necessary, with the responsible migration authority.  

We can provide a letter of support confirming that a specific internship is highly beneficial and recommended for the student’s academic and professional development. However, internships are not mandatory according to our study regulations. The support letters come directly from the dean's office, but are handled by the student advisor.

Further information is available from UZH Career Services.

Please contact the study advisor if anything is unclear. Don't forget to study the administrative details on the module page in the course catalogue.