There are many reasons why taking a project-oriented course during your is a good idea. The aim is to ensure that you:
- are given the chance to put your theoretical skills into practice.
- experience what it is like to solve problems in an actual workplace
- get the chance to start building a professional network.
Numerous studies show that such work experiences will make you a much more attractive job applicant after graduation.
What's in it for the company?
A work placement is not only good for you, but it is also beneficial for the company/organisation. As a student you offer a fresh perspective based on the latest theories and methods. Consequently, a work placement gives the company access to the newest knowledge and a chance at development.
How to plan your project-oriented course
There are two options:
1: Project-oriented course is mandatory on your programme
You can see if it is in your programme in your course of study.
2: Project-based learning may be able to replace other subject elements in your programme, such as electives
If project-based learning is not a compulsory part of your programme, you may have the option to turn one or more of your electives/optional elements into a project-based course. Find out if project-oriented courses are an option on your programme in the programme curriculum#/uddannelsens-opbygning/studieordning under § 3.2 > find your year > look under ‘Project-oriented courses’.
When would be the best time to place a project-oriented course?
Often the best time to place a project-oriented course is at the end of the Bachelor's programme or in the Master's programme. This is because it requires a certain academic foundation to manage a project position.
Before you start applying for a place to do your project, you need to consider where you would find it interesting to do a project and what areas and tasks you would like to work with. Some companies/organisations have specific projects that they would like help to address, but often you need to define the work assignments and tasks you would like to work with yourself.
Identify your competences
Try to express your competences and what you can offer a company/organisation. That is also what will be the basis of your application. Contact the Career Guidance to get help. They can help clarify your competences and they also offer feedback on your application and resumé.
In the course description for the project-oriented course there may be a specified number of hours for the project at the company/organisation, that need to be evident from the project agreement (see section 6). If the number of hours is not specified in the course description, you can assume that the following hours apply:
| 5 ECTS | 10 ECTS | 15 ECTS | 20 ECTS |
| 140 work hours | 280 work hours | 420 work hours | 560 work hours |
The work hours include:
- work hours at the company/organisation
- writing the project report
- other preparation
- possibly an oral defence of the project report
You may not receive a salary during a project-oriented course
You may not receive a salary during a project-oriented course, if it needs to be ECTS credited. You can still receive SU and may also be compensated by the company/organisation to cover documented expenses related to your project, e.g. transportation, rent and phone bills.
The company/organisation may give you a gratuity, that is a kind of reward or gift as a thank you for your effort. This may be as much as 3.000kr per month that the project lasts. See a description at SU.
You may not receive a salary during a project-oriented course, if it needs to be ECTS credited. You can still receive SU and may also be compensated by the company/organisation to cover documented expenses related to your project, e.g. transportation, rent and phone bills.
The company/organisation may give you a gratuity, that is a kind of reward or gift as a thank you for your effort. This may be as much as 3.000 kr per month that the project lasts. See a description at SU.
You are responsible for finding a company/organisation to work with yourself. It can be both a Danish or foreign company/organisation. If you are doing a project-oriented course abroad you can contact SDU International to get help with planning your stay.
4 things that you can do to find a company/organisation to work with
There are multiple things you can do to find a company/organisation to work with:
- Look for project postings in SDU Jobbank or other job search portals.
- Seek out interesting companies/organisations and send an unsolicited application.
- Ask your programme (Study Secretary or Head of Studies), if they have a list of where former students have done a project.
- Talk to the lecturers in your programme. They may have contacts both within and outside the university.
When you have established contact with a company/organisation it's important that you align your expectations:
- what do you expect from the company/organisation?
- what can the company/organisation expect from you?
- in what period will you be at the company/organisation?
- who is your contact person?
Get a contact person
The contact person should function as a person to ask questions and receive feedback from in everyday work life and should also create a nice setting for your stay.
Based on the oral agreement you and the company/organisation must draw up a written agreement. You can find the project agreement template under Forms. The agreement is approved by both you and the company/organisation.
Your programme must approve the academic content
The project agreement's academic content must be approved by your programme. Your programme considers if the tasks you do for the company/organisation is academically relevant and that it's aligned with the course description.
Non-disclosure agreement
Some companies and organisations work with confidential information and will require a non-disclosure agreement before the work placement begins. Some companies/organisations may already have standard forms for this. It that is not the case, you can use SDU´s non-disclosure agreement. Non-disclosure agreements must be sent to contracts@sdu.dk for legal approval before being signed by SDU.
Your supervisor at SDU functions as a person to get feedback from and discuss challenges with, both with regards to the academic content of the project agreement and when your write your project report. Your Study Secretary can inform you whether or not you need to find a supervisor yourself or will be assigned one.
When enroling in courses you need to enrol in the project oriented-course through Self-service.
You complete the project-oriented course by writing a project report. The length of the report depends on how many ECTS your project-oriented course is credited with. In the course description you can see the requirements for the length of the report and the examination.
Do you need help?
A project collaboration is a collaboration that you establish with a company or organisation in connection with bigger assignments during your studies – e.g. your bachelor´s project or master thesis. The collaboration can consist of many different things, e.g. data collection in the company/organisation or working with solutions to specific challenges in the company/organisation.
Test theory in practice through a project collaboration
Through a project collaboration you have the opportunity to apply all the theory you have learned during your studies in a practical setting. In addition, the collaboration can give you new inspiration for your studies and extend your professional network.
Companies and organisations appreciate project collaboration and benefit from the collaboration as well. The company/organisation also benefits from the collaboration because they get a new perspective on their work and can use your up-to-date academic knowledge to solve specific challenges. Therefore, many companies and organisations appreciate project collaboration with students.
How to plan a project collaboration
If you don’t have a clear idea for a project yet, it is a good idea to seek out inspiration for the project. Look at SDU’ job bank or other job portals where you can find projects at companies and organisations. You can use job postings as inspiration for what you can use a project collaboration for or what sort of competences are sought after. Maybe you discover some options you had not thought about at all.
Think about what you want to get out of the collaboration
Before you start setting up a project collaboration, reflect on what you would like to get out of the collaboration. Do you want to collect data which you can process, do you want to solve a specific problem or something completely different? Some companies and organisations have specific projects, that they would like to get help with, but often you will need to define the challenge you would like to tackle yourself.
Define your competences and what you can offer
Try to define your competences and what you can offer your collaboration partner. If you can specify clearly how your project can contribute to the company/organisation, it will be much easier to establish a collaboration from which both you and the company/organization benefit.
You are responsible for finding a company or organization to cooperate with. It may be either a Danish or International company or organisation.
3 things you can do to find a collaboration partner
- Check SDU’s job bank and other job portals. Maybe an organization/company is advertising a project already which matches what you would like to work with.
- Use your professional network. Ask people you know who work at a place where you could contribute. Use LinkedIn to get in contact with interesting companies/organisations. Ask at your study programme (Study Secretary or Head of Study) and talk to your lecturers.
- Send unsolicited applications to interesting companies and organisations. If you find an interesting company/organisation you can send an unsolicited application asking for a project collaboration. Read more about unsolicited applications at SDU RIO.
Make sure to match your expectations clearly with your supervisor about how your project collaboration fits into the general process of the assignment.
When you have established contact with a company or organisation it is important that you match expectations:
- What do you expect from them?
- What can they expect from you?
- What is the time frame for your collaboration?
- Who is your contact person at the company/organisation?
Get a contact person in the company/organisation
The contact person should function as your reference person during day-to-day work and are responsible for creating a good framework for your collaboration.
After you have entered into an oral agreement it is a good idea to get the agreement into writing. Two kinds of agreements may be relevant:
- Project collaboration agreement. Maybe the company/organisation already has a fixed framework for such an agreement. If not, you can use SDU´s project collaboration agreement.
- Non-disclosure agreement. Some companies and organisations work with confidential information and will require a non-disclosure agreement before the collaboration begins. As with the project collaboration agreement, some companies/organisations may already have standard forms for this. It that is not the case, you can use SDU´s non-disclosure agreement. Non-disclosure agreements must be sent to contracts@sdu.dk for legal approval before being signed by SDU.
It is a good idea to continuously evaluate the collaboration, together with your contact person at the company/organisation and your supervisor at SDU. Do you get the help and access you need from your company/organisation? Does the schedule hold up? Etc.
This way, you can address challenges that arise during the process and ensure that you reach your goals.
When the collaboration ends will depend on the specific agreement you have made with the company/organisation. Regardless of when the collaboration ends, it is a good idea to end the collaboration in a good way.
Share your completed report
A good way to finish the collaboration is to share your completed assignment with the company/organisation. This way they can see what was gained through the collaboration and get a comprehensive overview of your perspective and input to the company's/organisation’s work.
Have a final meeting
You should also consider having a final meeting with the company/organisation, so that you can evaluate how the collaboration process went as a whole and talk about whether there is a basis for continuing the collaboration, perhaps as a student job, full-time work after your studies or something else.