UWS Internship

Internships

" ... the internship program provides the opportunity to gain valuable industry experience at an organisation based in western Sydney."

Study Abroad Plus Internship

UWS offers Study Abroad & Exchange students the opportunity to undertake an unpaid internship program as part of their Study Abroad program. The internship, which is fully supervised by UWS academic staff, offers students the opportunity to gain valuable industry experience. Greater Western Sydney is recognized as Australia's third largest regional economy. As the base of operations for 30% of the leading companies in Australia it offers a diverse range of placement opportunities for students.

Academic Information
The UWS internship is usually equivalent to 10 credit points (one standard unit of study) and requires approximately 210 hours in the work placement. In conjunction with the internship, students are required to study two or three academic units in order to make up a full-time study load.

Note: A standard full-time study load for one session at UWS is 40 credit points, although students are eligible to study a minimum of 30 credits. Due to the workload it is recommended that students only study two units in conjunction with their internship.   Exchange/Study Abroad students should have the approval of their home University if they decide to undertake 30 credits points (3 subjects).  It is expected that students would transfer their internship experience to their home degree for credit.

How to make an Internship application
Internship opportunities are limited and therefore placements are awarded on a competitive basis. In addition to meeting the admission criteria all applicants must provide the following:

A completed UWS Study Abroad Application form with specified attachments.
A Resume (Curriculum Vitae)
Two letters of reference with the contact details of the referees.
A statement outlining the area of preferred interest for the work placement

Jilske discovers Australian bushfires through international internship Jilske DeBruin
Jilske DeBruin, from the Netherlands' Wageningen University, is the first student to undertake an International internship through Cooperative Programs during her semester at UWS.

The Forest Management Masters student is working on a subset of a bigger project focusing on fire regimes for UWS's School of Science, Food and Horticulture. Her project entails collecting fuel samples then drying, weighing, analysing them and measuring the samples against a fuel accumulation curve.

Having never experienced bush fires in her home country, Jilske has been on a steep learning curve.

" There is hardly any knowledge of forest or bush fires in the Netherlands and part of the reason why I wanted to study abroad and especially in Australia, was so Icould learn more and study in a different environment," said Ms DeBruin.

In order to prepare for the Internship Jilske had to undertake a literature review, to first understand the Australian bush and the fires that wreak havoc upon it.

" The Australian bush doesn't look complicated, but there is a lot more to it. Managing the bush and bush fires is quite complicated," said Jilske.

The work Jilske is completing during her six-month stint in Australia will assist a PhD student in gathering missing data which will be used to determine the fire frequency for bushland, as part of her thesis.

According to Jilske's supervisor, Dr Charles Morris, Jilske has been doing excellent work.  " Jilske's research answers an important question. In determining how often you should do controlled burning, you need to first answer how often fuel accumulates."

Jilske is enjoying her time in Australia and her experience in participating in a Cooperative Program.

" This program is run very well. I get good guidance and information and being abroad in a new situation certainly teaches you a lot about yourself and allows you to reflect on home," she said.

Jilske will graduate in six months time. She hopes to work for the state forest service in the Netherlands, for whom she has written a thesis in the past - however she is also considering the prospect of working abroad for a while.

By Shannon Irwin, Cooperative Programs (From Around UWS June 2004)

Ms Anne Marie Valentin Hansen, a Master of Science student from the Technical University of Denmark, was a visiting student in the Centre for Advanced Food Research for four months recently.

During her visit, she undertook, as part of her degree in Denmark, a short project related to encapsulated probiotic bacteria. Her supervisors for the project were Dr Michael Phillips, Dr Mark Jones and Associate Professor Kaila Kailasapathy.

Anne Marie masters science and Australian wildlife  Anne Marie
Anne Marie worked hard on her project, but also found time to travel quite extensively in Australia and made lots of new friends, including some of the four-legged variety.

Ms Anne Marie Valentin Hansen, a Master of Science student from the Technical University of Denmark, was a visiting student in the Centre for Advanced Food Research for four months recently.

During her visit, she undertook, as part of her degree in Denmark, a short project related to encapsulated probiotic bacteria. Her supervisors for the project were Dr Michael Phillips, Dr Mark Jones and Associate Professor Kaila Kailasapathy.

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