FAQ

Students select the training company themselves. To help students in their search, companies that may offer internship positions are listed in the internship application under “Company directory”. Further positions are published on the ETH students’ portal and external page IAESTE Switzerland or on the notice board of D-MAVT. Students may involve their tutor in their choice. 

The internship in the Mechanical Engineering and Process Engineering programmes should be completed before the start of the Master's programme or during the programme but before the student starts the Master's thesis. The former option is recommended. Students in the Robotics, Systems and Control programme can start their industrial internship after the Master's thesis. Students who started their industrial internship during their Bachelor’s studies at ETH can have it recognized when it was started after the achievement of min. 145CP in their Bachelor’s studies.

The D-MAVT Student Administration can issue a confirmation that the industrial internship is a compulsory part of your studies. The internship company must apply for a work permit from the Department of Economic Affairs (AWI) with the above-mentioned confirmation.

If a student shows valid reasons for an internship with a workload below 80%, they must send a written request for acceptence to the student administration before the start of the internship and provide basic information about the desired internship as well as reasons for the reduced workload. The duration of a part-time internship prolongs to an equivalent of 100% = 12 weeks.

The internship does not need a registration beforehand. For the recognition of the completed Industrial Internship, a confirmation from the company must be uploaded to the internship application. This confirmation letter must contain:
- name of the company
- exact period of the internship
- workload
- activities and tasks performed during the internship
- signature of the company’s responsible person

The Learning Agreement is the defined individual study plan that needs to be confirmed by your tutor. In the Mechanical Engineering programme and in the Process Engineering programme you include only the core courses. In the Robotics, Systems and Control programme you include core courses and multidisciplinary courses. No other subjects are listed in the Learning Agreement (no semester project, no ‘Science in Perspective’ courses, etc.). Before you choose the courses, please read through your program’s study guide. Then check the course catalogue for the courses that align with your study focus and goals. Check also last semester’s course options to get an idea of what courses might be available in the next semesters. While planning, please also keep in mind that your degree can only have a maximum of 10 extra credits in total.

At the student’s request, the Director of Studies may approve a change of tutor if justified reasons are given. Changes are only possible at the beginning of a semester. A change does not result in an extension of the maximum allowable study duration. 

Courses from other universities are only allowed in the multidisciplinary courses. For further information please check your study guide. Once you have decided on taking the external course, you’ll need to contact the other university and make sure that you follow their procedure to register for their courses. Please contact the D-MAVT Student Administration beforehand. 

To find a research topic for a Master’s Thesis, you can check the offers of the different D-MAVT institutes, platforms like external page SiROP, the notice board and you can directly contact professors within the field of your interest to check for options. Projects from other engineering departments are also possible.