Two-year Master of Science in Social Data Science (MS SDS) students are required to enroll in DNDS 5021 Research Internship which is an internship course carrying 6 US credits / 12 ECTS credits in the Spring Term of their first year of study. They will carry out a research or industrial project related to the student’s specialization. The duration of the internship is 10 weeks. Through the internship, students will develop the skills in social data science related to their specialization to excel in the field/sector of their interest, and how to work in collaborative environments.
Students can pursue the internship with any organization (which can be CEU, other academic institutions, other private or public organizations in Austria or other countries) as long as the project relates to social data science and their specialization of the master studies. The responsibility of securing an internship rests and applying for a work visa/permit or any relevant documents, which is required of them to work in the country where the host organization is located, with the student. Internships may not be for family members.
The internship should be clearly defined with a specific project and clear goals, tasks, timelines, and deliverables. During the internship students shall participate in the hypothesis development, methodological design, implementation, and the analysis of observations. Internships focusing only on one or a few steps (e.g. implementation) of this research cycle may not be eligible.
A supervisor shall be designated by the host organization for each internship, and shall provide guidance and instructions to the intern and serve as the host organization’s contact for DNDS. An internal academic advisor from CEU shall also be assigned for non-academic internships so that the research progress and academic quality of the internship are assured. Arrangement of meetings with the internal academic advisor should be made by the students.
An internship agreement outlining the internship period and the internship details should be signed between the student, the host organization, the master program director, and the internal academic advisor (for non-academic internship only) before the commencement of the internship.
The internship at the host organization should start from the first day of the Spring Term. During the internship period the student is expected to work full-time during the official office hours on the research project under the supervision of the host organization. Working arrangements may vary depending on the host organization.
In the end of the internship, students are required to submit a 15-page internship report about their project work and present the research results in front of the internship committee and the fellow students.