Students Tilburg University

Information on internships for TiSEM students

Internships are a great way to get oriented and learn about possible career paths, gain practical experience, build a useful network, and experience what you like and don't like in a job. In addition, it is a great way to enrich your CV!

Several internship opportunities are available within TiSEM:

Curricular Bachelor internship (as part of your study program)

Third year bachelor internship in the first semester (applies to bachelors: International Business Administration, Bedrijfseconomie, Economie & Bedrijfeconomie en Economics) for ECTS.:

  • You will do an internship for 32 hours a week from September to January for 24 ECTS (672 hours).
  • In addition to your internship, you will take 1 elective for 6 ECTS.
  • Half of the number of hours (336 hours) must be spent on a predefined project.
  • You can only do an internship if you have obtained at least 90 ECTS.
  • During your internship you will be supervised by an internship supervisor from the company and from university
  • During your internship you will also follow a program (consisting of, among other things, a kick-off, workshops and personal coaching) to guide you in your personal development and the progress of your personal goals.

Internship agreement

  • Before you start your internship the Tilburg University Model Internship and Thesis Agreement / UNL Contact must be signed, by you, the organization and ultimately by the internship coordinator at the university. This is the only contract that the university signs.
  • It is a standard contract designed by UNL (universities of the Netherlands) and industry and is used by all universities in the Netherlands. It addresses all issues related to confidentiality and intellectual property.
  • The university does not sign Non Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), etc.

If you are considering an internship in the first semester of the third year, sign up for the TiSEM Internship Canvas page for more information. The internship coordinator is Jolijn van Cruchten via j.vancruchten@tilburguniversity.edu.

TiSEM Internship Canvas page

Internship Roadmap

In your second year, TiSEM Student Career Services offers an ‘Internship Roadmap’ with several sessions to help you find an internship that suits you.

Check out the Internship Roadmap

Would you like to start your internship well prepared? Then keep an eye on the TiSEM internship Canvas page where we will inform you about the dates and content of these sessions. You can also contact the Career Services Officer of your program via tisem.careerservices@tilburguniversity.edu

More general information about internships can be found on How do I find an internship?

Extended Master’s Program (EMP)

The EMP is a program, within which you do an internship on top of your regular TiSEM Master's program. In most cases, it extends your Master's program by half a year. The program is developed in cooperation with partner organizations and offers you the opportunity to further develop and improve your practical and professional skills. It involves an internship of at least 600 hours in total, in addition you attend workshops and company visits on a number of Fridays. This all in combination with coaching aimed at personal development. The program has two starting moments per year (spring and fall).

Benefits of participating in the EMP

  • It's a great way to get 'in the picture' of leading companies while adding valuable professional experience to your master's program.
  • You will receive Edubadges and an Extended Master's Program Certificate.
  • You expand your professional network and learn to reflect on your preferences, strengths and where there is room for self-improvement.
  • You attend valuable hard and soft skills training courses available exclusively to Extended Master's Program students, including for example: 'Effective Communication', 'Personal Branding', 'Networking', 'Project Management', 'Excel' and 'Machine Learning'.

The internship agreement is signed only by the student and the organization where the student will intern. The Extended Master's Program is not involved in this. The university does also not sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), etc.

More info and contact?

More information about the EMP can be found at the webpage Extended Master's Program Tilburg School of Economics and Management (TiSEM).

For questions, please contact extended-master@tilburguniversity.edu. The EMP team is also happy to schedule an appointment with you to further discuss the possibilities.

Thesis internship

During this internship, you choose to research a problem within an organization so that the results can be used in practice. The topic for your thesis must first be approved by your program.

  • During your thesis internship, you will be supervised on the thesis component by a thesis supervisor from the University (not on the internship component). 
  • Make sure you can work on your thesis at least four days a week. If you spend too much time on other company activities, successful and timely completion of your thesis will be endangered.

Internship agreement

Some organizations require a non-disclosure or employment agreement before giving you permission to conduct your research. The only agreement that Tilburg University will sign is Tilburg University Model Internship and Thesis Agreement / UNL Contract. The university does not sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), etc.

You can contact your program's Career Services Officer for this at tisem.careerservices@tilburguniversity.edu.

Extracurricular internship (not part of your program)

If an internship is not part of your degree, but you would still like to gain relevant work experience, you can choose to do a voluntary internship alongside your studies. In this case, no guidance or supervision is provided by the University.

More information on finding an internship can be found at:

Internship agreement

You are responsible for negotiating an agreement with your internship company. The university is not a party in this and therefore does not sign an internship agreement. The university does also not sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), etc.

However, for students from an EEA country (EEA: all EU countries plus Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland) we can issue a 'statement' indicating that you are studying at Tilburg University.

If you are from a non-EEA country and are going to do your internship in the Netherlands, the NUFFIC Agreement applies. For a signature, by the Career Services Officer of your program, you must provide the following documents:

  • Description of your learning objectives and the link between your education and internship (link between theory and practice, max 1 A4)
  • A copy of your passport (your photo, full name, date of birth and period of validity must be visible)
  • A copy of your residence permit (front and back)
  • Proof of enrollment (the internship period mentioned in the Nuffic Agreement must fall within your period of enrollment at Tilburg University. For internships that continue after August 31, you can request an addendum via the website after re-registration for the next academic year).
  • The NUFFIC Agreement fully completed and signed by you and the internship company.

Please note that the University does not provide dispute assistance (Article 7), does not appoint an internship supervisor (Article 8), and does not require a report from the intern (Article 8). Inform the company about this beforehand.

You can contact your program's Career Services Officer for this matter at  tisem.careerservices@tilburguniversity.edu.