Before you start
Think of this page as mission control for your internship. Every step, every deadline, every “wait, who do I email?” — sorted, in order, ready for launch.
Your only job: don’t wait for the countdown to run out.
The network
You won’t be launching into the unknown. Over the years, a wide network of institutions has opened its doors to our students — newsrooms, labs, museums and organizations where science communication gets put to work.
Take a look at the places that have hosted our interns.
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Your Internship,
Step by Step.
It’s mandatory: 250 hours of internship or recognized work. No hours, no diploma. The paperwork is slow and there’s a hidden queue — so the rule is simple: start early, start now.
The 3 rules that decide everything
Ignore these and you risk not graduating. It’s that blunt.
Find your internship by the end of November.
Host organizations pick students from their CVs — a spot is never guaranteed. Start looking early and apply to several places at once, because a company may have no free position for your dates. Leave it late and the good ones are gone.
Setting it up is slow — and then you queue.
The paperwork takes at least 15 working days, usually more. On top of that, the system puts requests in a queue: your documents could be ready in January and still not clear you to start until March. So don’t wait — begin the moment you’ve chosen.
Closing also takes up to a month. The wall is 31 May.
“Finishing your hours” is not the finish line — every closing document has to be submitted and your credits registered by 31 May. That can take up to a month, so start closing the day your hours end. Miss it and you get a certificate of attendance, not the diploma.
Ideal timeline
Build backwards from 31 May. Every box you push late eats your buffer.
Can you do an internship in Italy?
This decides who finds the host — you or us. Check it first.
🌐 International students
The Master is online, so you can’t get a study visa to intern in Italy — and internships in Italy require Italian as a mother tongue. You find a host organization abroad yourself.
✈️ Italian students going abroad
Same rule in reverse: if you want to intern outside Italy, you find the host yourself.
Interning outside Italy takes longer — plan for it.
The process runs through Job Guidance and can take up to 60 days. Esse3 sets the start date at least 45 days ahead, and the agreement must be signed by hand or with a qualified (eIDAS) e-signature — scans of typed signatures are not accepted. If you’re abroad, start even earlier.
Which path are you on?
Four routes lead to the same credits. Tap yours.
Set up the internship on Esse3
Choose a host organization (or propose a new one) and line up a university supervisor (your academic tutor) early — you’ll need their name on the platform.
Not sure where to go? We’ll help you choose. Always line up more than one option — a company may not have a free position for your period.
You also need to be up to date with your tuition fees to activate.
Do this by end of NOVIf your employer is willing to let you work 250 hours in the communications department or on a communication project, you can do your internship at your own company.
Line up a university supervisor (your academic tutor) early — you’ll need their name on the platform.
You also need to be up to date with your tuition fees to activate.
Do this by end of NOVSend the coordinator three things: the company name, the company tutor, and the email of the contact person. The contact person is whoever handles the accreditation on the company side — often the same person as your company tutor. This is what gets your request approved.
The coordinator is always your first point of contact. After this, the activation is handled directly with Job Guidance.
a) If the company is already accredited and its agreement (Convenzione) is still active, it can go straight to step 3 on its own.
b) If the agreement has expired, or the company isn’t accredited yet, it must wait for Job Guidance’s email instructions to complete accreditation first.
On Esse3, the host enters the content of the training project (the activities, goals, dates, 250 hours).
⏳ This is the slow part — minimum ~15 working days, longer if a new agreement is needed. Chase your host gently.
Add your university supervisor’s name, then accept the draft project on Esse3. Download it and send it to your supervisor for review.
Your supervisor emails their approval — or requested changes — to jobguidance@unitn.it.
Job Guidance unlocks the final project for download. Print it and sign it. Then collect signatures in this order: company tutor first, university tutor last.
Email the fully-signed project to jobguidance@unitn.it — ideally within 10 days of the start date. It’s your responsibility to get the document to everyone.
If you don’t already hold a workplace Health & Safety certificate, get it before you start — the basic (general) level is enough. It’s free online (FAD) from UniTrento; a low-risk office module is available on request. The host covers any specific-risk training.
Then wait for the queue — start only once activation clearsUniversity of Trento — internal route
Different procedure
Internal internships are online only and activated directly by the department, not through the standard Job Guidance flow. International students cannot travel to Italy just for the internship.
Email the Internship Coordinator to set it up — they’re always your first point of contact. Internal internships don’t go through Job Guidance: they’re managed by the student office at stagesrs@unitn.it. From there, tracking hours follows the same logic as the other paths.
Reach out by end of NOVRecognize your professional work
This replaces the internship
Only if you’re already working in communication, and only if the work fits the program. It must be employee (salaried) work — activity as a freelancer, self-employed professional, or business owner can’t be recognized. Subject to evaluation and approval by the coordinator — so submit early.
Timing rule — only work done during the Master counts
Only activity carried out while you’re enrolled in the Master can be recognized. Work you did before starting the Master does not count — even if it’s science communication. The 250 hours must fall within your Master period.
Fill the DSRS – Request for Recognition of External Activities form online. The request is handled by stagesrs@unitn.it — cc the coordinator on any follow-up.
A letter on company letterhead confirming your activity, the 250 hours, and the dates. Use the template provided.
Follow the End-of-Internship Report template: host, activities, competences owned & developed, results, and your reflection.
While you work
250 hours total, flexible schedule agreed with your host. Download “Certificate – Part I” from Esse3 right away and log your hours as you go — you’ll need it to close.
Any change to dates, hours, or tasks (or a suspension) must be emailed in advance to Job Guidance, copying both tutors, with the reason.
Closing the internship
Start closing the day you finish
Certificate Part Two can take up to 2 weeks, plus ~10 more days to register credits — up to a month total. The 31 May wall is for everything done, not “hours finished”.
Open the Closure – Phase 1 form and attach:
• Internship Certificate – Part One (from Esse3, signed by you + your company tutor, with the hours record).
• Final Internship Report (2–3 pages, template, signed by your university tutor).
Fill the evaluation form — and your company tutor must complete their questionnaire too. Then Job Guidance issues Certificate – Part Two in Esse3; send it to your university tutor to sign.
Upload the signed Certificate – Part Two to the Closure – Phase 2 form. Complete the Student Evaluation Questionnaire.
The system emails your company tutor for their final evaluation. Once they submit, the office sends it for credit registration — 10 credits land in your Esse3 libretto.
Closing an internal internship
One phase only
Internal internships close in a single phase — there’s no Phase 2.
Fill the online DSRS – Internship Closure – Phase 1 form and attach:
• Internship Diary, signed by you and your tutor.
• Final Internship Report, approved and signed by your academic tutor, using the template.
Internal internships are managed by stagesrs@unitn.it (not Job Guidance). The Degree Programme Chair reviews your documents, and you’ll get the outcome at your UniTrento student email.
Who to contact, and when
Three inboxes, three jobs. Get this right and everything moves faster.
1 · Coordinator
Your first stop, always. Send the initial internship data here. (No fixed address — check the program contacts, it can change.)
2 · Job Guidance
jobguidance@unitn.it — activation of company internships: project approval, signed documents, and any change during the internship.
3 · Student office
stagesrs@unitn.it (cc the coordinator) — closing checks, credit registration, work recognition, and all internal internships.
Templates & forms
Bookmark this. You’ll come back here three or four times.
Questions before you start? Read the FAQ · see the host network · full official procedure on Job Guidance.
Still stuck? Email the coordinator — but do it today, not next month.