IAESTE - International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience
The „International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience“, IAESTE, is an international, non-political, independent organization for the placement of internships in over 85 countries worldwide.
IAESTE arranges specialist internships abroad for students of all technical and scientific disciplines. There are placements in industry as well as at research institutes.
- IAESTE internships usually last around 2-3 months and often take place in the summer.
- The internships are generally paid; the salary is based on the typical cost of living in the country at student level.
- The IAESTE committee abroad takes care of finding accommodation and is always available as a point of contact.
IAESTE Germany takes care of all the necessary formalities. Placement is free of charge for students enrolled in Germany. This is made possible by the integration of the IAESTE program into the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
- application procedure and Tips
- Testimonials former IAESTE interns.
- Exchange Platform Student Guide
IAESTE application procedure
Within IAESTE, there are two different allocation procedures for internships:
- Within the main award cycles (Exchange-Offer) or
- via a short-term offer (global offer)
The basic application process is very similar for both procedures and runs via the Exchange platform.
| Exchange Internships - main application cycle | Global internship - short-term offers |
| Offers are collected and published in November, January, and April. | Offers are published spontaneously throughout the year on the “Exchange Platform.” |
| Internships are made available exclusively to IAESTE Germany. | Open to all countries. |
| Only one application per position. | The duration of the internship varies between 6 and 52 weeks. |
| The duration of internships usually varies between 6 and 15 weeks. | The employer sets the application deadline individually. |
Uniform application deadline and fixed deadlines.
| You are competing with international applicants. Offers are usually filled quickly. |
| October - January | Application phase and registration on the IAESTE Exchange Platform (EP) |
| End of January | All member countries exchange internship positions at a large international conference. We then announce which internship offers have been forwarded to IAESTE Germany. This is a list of around 700 positions in over 80 countries worldwide. Each offer on the list contains information about the possible internship period, duration, required level of study and degree program, language skills, and other necessary skills.
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| February | In February, a national conference will be held at which each local committee will attempt to secure the offers that best match the preferences of their respective students. Immediately after the conference, we will send you an email with either a) a direct acceptance, because we have received your offer and you are the only student at TH OWL who was interested in it We will also send you a list of delayed offers by email.
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| March | Students who have been admitted (either directly or after submitting their letter of motivation and subsequent acceptance) must apply to their employer by March 30. Over 80% of employers accept students if they meet all the necessary criteria (e.g., field of study, level of study, language skills). |
| May | Starting in May, students will receive their acceptance letters from their employers. Now you can apply for a visa if necessary, book your flight, look for accommodation (unless this is provided by the IAESTE committee in the host country), and apply for travel subsidies from the DAAD—and then enjoy your IAESTE experience. |
The application process is conducted via the Exchange Platform.
As the TH OWL IAESTE support center, we accept registrations for the IAESTE program for the following year (“preliminary application”) throughout the year.
Please register by November.
You will need a verified IAESTE account.
Upload the required documents to the IAESTE Exchange Platform and you will be activated once we have reviewed your documents.
Exchange Platform Student Guide
Video tutorial: How to register and get your profile verified
Please write all documents in English.
- Letter of motivation
- Tabular resume
- Certificate of enrollment (you must be enrolled at the start of the internship)
- Transcript of records (at least 90 ECTS BA - not applicable for MA)
- Current language certificate
- Your high school diploma is not sufficient as a certificate.
- Not older than 2 years.
- Tip: The Language Learning Center at TH OWL offers a free DAAD language certificate, which is sufficient as proof of language proficiency.
After registering, a confirmation email will be sent to the address you provided.
You must click on the link in this email to activate your account.
You can then create a new application under “My application.”
Select TH OWL here and then enter your study details and all application documents, etc.
Only after this step will you be assigned to our committee and your application forwarded to us.
Please note that we can only verify your account once we have received all the documents in full.
Please inform us about your application to internationaloffice@th-owl.de
The Exchange Platform (EP) will inform you about your applicant status.
At the end of January, we will receive a complete list of available internships for applicants from German universities.
Now you have to be quick: take a look at the list, send us your five preferred internships, and we will do our best to secure them before other IAESTE teams in Germany!
In mid-February, we will announce which internships we have been able to secure for applicants studying at TH OWL.
You will be given a deadline by which you must decide on an internship or withdraw for this season.
Within the Exchange Platform (EP), you will find the Active Nominations tab. Here you can enter all the necessary information about yourself and your studies. The tool is very intuitive and shows you step by step what information we need from you. You can also save your progress under Safe Draft.
The following documents must be submitted under Student Documents:
- The “Student Nominated” form – please fill it out electronically and sign it later.
- Cover letter – find out about your future employer and write a personal cover letter highlighting your strengths.
- CV – it is best to use a tabular CV to present your qualifications in an appealing way.
- Transcript of Records/Grade Report
- Language certificate - the Abitur (German high school diploma) is not recognized as a language certificate! The document must not be older than 2 years.
- Certificate of enrollment
- Copy of passport
- Other supporting documents - The so-called O-form contains all the necessary information about the internship: the name and address of the employer, the qualifications required of the applicant, travel period, etc.
all documents must be written in English ! Outgoer checklist
The TH OWL also requires the complete application.
Please create a PDF file and send it to: internationaloffice@th-owl.de
Complete the application within the Exchange Platform by clicking on Submit.
- The status of the application will now change from Draftto Documents Submitted.
- The National Committee will now check your details for accuracy and inform you if any documents are missing.
- Once the application has been verified, it will be sent to the IAESTE committee of the target country and forwarded to the potential employer.
- The applicant status changes to Confirmed.
The acceptance phase may take longer. Please do not contact the potential employer independently.
Experience shows that acceptance takes place within the main application phase until April/May.
For COBE/FCFS offers, the departure date is more decisive.
Unfortunately, the application can be rejected by the employer - this rarely happens.
If the application is accepted, the status of the application changes to Student Accepted.
You will receive the “Acceptance Note (N/5a)” in writing.
This document must be completed, signed and uploaded to the Exchange Platform in order to agree to the general conditions of the internship.
The applicant status will be changed from Awaiting Student Confirmation to Awaiting Travel Confirmation.
Fill in the arrival information in the Exchange Platform under the Acceptance Documents tab.
Visa
At this point you need to take care of the visa for the destination country. The IAESTE committee in the host country will help you with the work permit. The flight can now be booked
Travel allowance
You can apply for a travel allowance:
IAESTE interns can apply to the DAAD for a travel allowance if the internship takes place outside the EU.
International health and accident insurance
You are obliged to take out international health and accident insurance. You can consider taking out DAAD insurance.
Arrival Note
Once the arrival information has been collected, the Arrival Note must be generated under Acceptance Documents, which you must sign and upload to the Exchange Platform. The status of the application changes to Travel Confirmation Submitted.
The IAESTE local committee in the host country will help you to find your own accommodation and support you on site. For example, they will pick you up from the airport and take you to your accommodation, etc...
Short-term IAESTE offers
You will find the current short-term IAESTE internship offers here.
Please note that only one application can be submitted at a time