Bachelor's Degree Programme in
International Trade and Tourism

Internship - traineeship

The internship is a period of on-the-job training offered to students and recent graduates to acquire knowledge and professional skills that can be put into practise in the world of work, experiencing the life of a company.

It is a compulsory part of the all Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes. The internship can be linked to the final exam and it is recommended that you do it during the final year of the programme.

To calculate the required duration of the internship, multiply the number of credits provided by your study plan by 25 hours: for example 6 ECTS = 150 hours, 9 ECTS = 225 hours, 12 ECTS = 300 hours.

Internships in Italy
Students interested in finding an internship in Italy can consult the possibilities and apply by following the instructions in the appropriate section.

Internships abroad
Ca’ Foscari promotes and organises internships all over the world. For students who choose to do an internship abroad, the University awards bonus points to the final degree mark.

How to choose your university tutor
Once you have identified an internship or a useful contact and you are a candidate according to the necessary procedure, you will have to ask the university tutor to accept your research project. You may choose a professor in the field of economics as your tutor, or you may choose a professor whose discipline is similar to your internship field. For any clarification you can also contact the president of the Teaching Committee of your study course.

Regulation of the Degree programme

  1. Aim
    The term tirocinio (used in current Italian regulations) and its French equivalent stage, as well as the English versions 'internship' or 'traineeship', are synonyms and are used interchangeably in the University's web pages, regulations, forms and documents.
    The internship is an integral part of the 'International Trade and Tourism' degree programme's curriculum. It is intended to put into practice the knowledge acquired at university, to learn new skills and to gain experience in the workplace, with a view to enhancing understanding of decision-making processes, and of coordination structures and mechanisms.
    The internship abroad allows students to learn how to work in international organisations and to improve their linguistic knowledge.
    The training project, prepared by the student and approved by the university tutor and company tutor, must be consistent with the student's degree programme and curriculum, both in terms of content and tasks to be performed. 
  2. Destinations
    The internship may be carried out abroad or in Italy and may be selected either from among those offered by the University, from those recommended by the individual professors, or may be organised autonomously by the student following an agreement between the host organisation and the University.
  3. Length
    Students are awarded 6 ECTS/CFU for their internship activities; therefore, the internship must last no less than 150 hours, to be certified by the company tutor through the attendance register.
    As to length, a good rule of thumb, based on the Teaching Board shared experience, is to recommend internships lasting one week per each ECTS/CFU awarded.
  4. Requirements
    When submitting the internship application, students must have acquired at least 72 ECTS/CFU.

  5. Start of the internship
    In order to prepare their training project, students must contact their designated university tutor, assigned to them by surname by the Teaching Board.
    Below is the list of tutors

    • Internship Tutor 1 (professor Diana Barro) for students with surnames A to Buona 
    • Internship Tutor 2 (professor Annalisa Colombino) for students with surnames Buonc to Del
    • Internship Tutor 3 (professor Alessandra Zanardo) for students with surnames Dem to Len
    • Internship Tutor 4 (professor Mariella Lamicela) for students with surnames Leo to Pasi
    • Internship Tutor 5 (professor Francesca Parpinel) for students with surnames Pasl to Sen
    • Internship Tutor 6 (professor Paolo Pellizzari) for students with surnames Seo to Z

    Students must ask in advance for a meeting with their tutor during office hours and they must submit a copy of their academic curriculum, certifying that they meet the necessary requirements to undertake the internship.
    For details on how to start an internship, i.e. a procedure common to all degree programmes, please refer to the information made on this page.

  6. Final internship report
    At the end of the internship, students are required to write a final report containing the objectives achieved and any difficulties encountered during the internship.
  7. End of the internship and credit recognition
    Before submitting the documents to the relevant Internship Unit, students must produce to their university tutor the attendance register (duly signed), the final report on the activities carried out during the internship, as referred to in Article 8 above, as well as the company tutor's assessment.
    Based on this documentation, the university tutor will evaluate whether or not to award ECTS/CFU for the internship activity performed.
  8. Special cases
    • Interruptions
      The internship may only be interrupted for serious and proven reasons and in any case upon request, sent by e-mail, to the relevant Internship Unit for the Economic Campus at stage.areaeconomica@unive.it.
    • Recognition of activities replacing the internship
      For requests concerning the recognition of activities carried out in lieu of an internship, please contact the Treviso Campus at treviso@unive.it.

Recognitions, Internships as extra or substitute ECTS

For enquiries regarding the recognition of internships and traineeships with additional credits or as substitutes for chosen exams, contact the Treviso Campus treviso@unive.it.

It is possible to include an extra-curricular internship into the study plan, that is, in addition to the total credits already foreseen by your programme, with modification of the study plan assessed by the Teaching Committee.

The request must be forwarded to the appropriate campus before starting the internship in all the following cases:

  • Further training in the curricular already carried out
  • Training that includes more hours than the curricular one
  • Extension of an ongoing traineeship

You will have to fill in the appropriate form of modification of your study plan and send it over via e-mail to your campus along with the documentation indicated.

file pdf Modify your study plan for an internship [ITA] 99 KB

The Campus will send your documentation to the coordinator of the Teaching Committee for prior authorisation. If you have obtained prior authorisation, you will have to keep the form until the end of the internship and then request the final recognition, re-transmitting everything to your Campus.

Once you have obtained final recognition, the campus will send the documents to the Students Career Service for a career update.

The Teaching Committee consent to the substitution of an open unit with an internship only under certain conditions.

Before starting the internship, you must complete the appropriate form to request the modification of your study plan that will be sent via e-mail to your Campus, together with the documentation indicated in it.

file pdf Modify your study plan for an internship [ITA] 99 KB

The Campus will send your documentation to the coordinator of the Teaching Committee for prior authorisation. If you have obtained prior authorisation, you will have to keep the form until the end of the internship and then request the final recognition, re-transmitting everything to your Campus.

Once the final recognition is obtained, the Campus will send the documentation to the Career Service for the career update.

It is possible to choose the internship among free-choice credits:

  • in degree programmes with a maximum of 18 ECTS for the whole course.
  • in Master’s degree programmes with a maximum of 6 ECTS. Furthermore, a total of 12 ECTS can not be added to the study plan.

Further credits for internships can be recognised as additional credits.

These limits are valid both for the degrees of new D.M. 270/04 and for the D.M. 509/99 degrees.

In place of the curricular internship, various activities can be recognised that will be subjected and evaluated by the coordinator of the Teaching Committee on the basis of relevance with your Bachelor’s / Master’s degree. 

The compulsory internship can be substituted by work carried out, for example at a company or a professional firm. To request recognition of the work you will need to send your Campus:

  • a self declaration;
  • a declaration from the employer stating the duration of your work, the average hours done the tasks performed.
file pdf Self declaration 48 KB
file pdf Company declaration 15 KB

Experiences such as volunteering can be recognised after evaluation by the Coordinator of the Teaching Committee.
Before starting the activity, ask for a prior evaluation by sending the educational project/related documentation to your reference Campus, which will be submitted to the Coordinator of the Teaching Committee.
Once the activity is complete, send all the documentation in your possession to the Campus, which will submit it to the Coordinator of the Teaching Committee for final recognition.

file pdf Request form for the authorization of other activities [ITA] 42 KB
file pdf Declaration form by the employer [ITA] 41 KB

Moreover, the University also offers the possibility of carrying out a student collaboration by participating in a call for applications. However, it is not possible to consider this activity as a replacement for the internship foreseen, since it must be carried out at facilities other than the University.