BEFORE THE INTERNSHIP 

When do I enroll in the Project and Internship course?

Most students complete their internship during summer. So, you must enroll in the PSY 300 - Project and Internship course during course registrations or add/drop period of the Spring semester that precedes the summer when you will complete your internship.

It is also possible to complete your internship during the winter break. If you’d like to do that, you must enroll in PSY 300 during course registrations or add/drop period of the Fall semester that precedes the winter break when you will complete your internship.

I forgot to enroll in PSY 300 - Project and Internship during course registrations or add-drop. What should I do?

You may apply for late enrollment. But you will have to pay a late fee and obtain relevant permissions. Please contact intern@sabanciuniv.edu to learn about the procedures.

I am doing a double major. How do I complete my internship?

You must enroll in the PSY 300 course to fulfill the requirements of the psychology major. You must also enroll in the Project and Internship course of your other major. For example, if you are double majoring in psychology and economics, you must enroll in both PSY 300 and ECON 300.
You may complete a single internship to count toward both internship courses as long as your internship is relevant to both of your majors and the internship advisors of each major approve your internship.

At what kind of institutions can I complete my internship for PSY 300?

As a psychology major, you may complete your internship in any for-profit or non-for-profit institution in Turkey or abroad as long as the jobs you complete are relevant to your psychology training and have implications for human behavior. Keep in mind that psychology is a very broad topic so a wide variety of jobs could be tied back to your psychology training. For example, in a sales or marketing department, you would learn about consumer behavior. At a start-up company, you would think about how a new product is perceived by its target audience. At a clinic, you might observe patients who are faced with psychological difficulties. At an advertising agency, you would be exposed to strategies that are pursued to persuade consumers to buy a product. At a non-for-profit that targets children, you would observe what kind of interventions might facilitate children’s learning, development, or well-being. At a research institution, you would assist research projects across different sub-fields in psychology. These are just a few examples of what kind of positions you might pursue during your internship. What all of these have in common is that they can be tied to human behavior and hence your training in psychology.

To review the list of institutions where psychology students previously completed their summer internships, please visit https://career.sabanciuniv.edu/tr/content/psikoloji Of course, you’re not limited by these institutions, any other institution relevant to your psychology training will be fine.

I really want to study a specific sub-field of psychology but cannot find a relevant internship. What should I do?

Keep in mind that your mandatory internship is not your only chance to be exposed to a specific sub-field. There will be many opportunities in the future (other than the mandatory internship) to gain experience in your area of interest. 
Perhaps more importantly, all sub-fields of psychology are intimately tied with one another. So, an internship that is seemingly remotely related with your area of interest might end up teaching you important lessons about your area of interest. For example, students who are interested in clinical psychology often assume that the only options available to them to complete their internship are clinics or psychiatry hospitals. But at a non-for-profit institution for disadvantaged children, they might get a chance to observe, interact with, and help children who are at risk for psychological difficulties. Alternatively, at a start-up developing an app to improve individuals’ psychological well-being, they might think about how stress-reduction exercises might be incorporated into the app to reduce the risk for anxiety or depression. So, think outside of the box when you are trying to find an internship that is tied with what you are interested in.

How long is the mandatory internship?

Minimum of 20 business days. But may last longer depending on the requirements of your internship institution. Please note that the dates of your internship cannot overlap with your classes or exams.

Can I complete my internship as I attend summer school?

Yes, but you may take only one course from the summer school while completing your internship. You must make sure that you have at least three days (excluding Sunday) that you are not attending any classes during summer school. Also, make sure that your internship does not have time conflicts with your classes. For example, if you have a class or an exam on a given day, you cannot go to your internship institution on that day. In other words, that day will not count toward your internship. (Keep in mind that according to YOK rules, even if your course/exam is in the morning, you cannot go your internship institution in the afternoon.)

Please talk to your supervisor at your internship institution ahead of time about how to manage your internship schedule while attending summer school. Remember, you must complete 20 full business days of internship to fulfill the requirements of PSY 300.

If you are attending summer school, the Internship Office will check whether your classes have any time conflicts with your internship. If they detect any conflicts, the course that you are taking will be automatically dropped from your schedule. Please contact intern@sabanciuniv.edu if you have any further questions about this issue.

Where do I find the deadlines for completing the requirements of the PSY 300 course?

The deadlines are determined and announced by the Internship Office. After logging into the FASS Internship Online Management System, click on Important Dates to see deadlines for completing each requirement of the PSY 300 course. Please contact intern@sabanciuniv.edu if you have further questions about deadlines.

I enrolled in the PSY 300 course. What do I do now?

Next, you have to contact companies or institutions where you are interested in carrying out your internship and ask them whether they would accept you for a summer internship. It is entirely your responsibility to find a relevant internship institution so we encourage you to start contacting companies/institutions early.

Can I complete my internship at a company operating outside of Turkey?

Yes. You may complete your internship either in Turkey or abroad.

Can I complete my internship at a university or research institution?

Yes, you may work in a research project in SU or outside of SU (including universities abroad) as a summer internship. But your cumulative GPA should be above 3.00 to be eligible for this. Please note that if you pursue a research internship at SU, you have to submit an additional paper on your research project at the end of your internship along with your internship diary and report. After this paper is evaluated and approved by the Dean’s office, you should append it at the end of your internship report and submit it to the PSY 300 system as a pdf file. (That is, the pdf file should contain your internship report plus the additional research paper.)

I got accepted by an institution for a summer internship. What do I do now?

The Internship Office will assist you in completing relevant procedures regarding your internship. Please follow the steps recommended by them. 
For further information, please visit https://career.sabanciuniv.edu/en/fass-undergraduate-summer-internship-course (in English) or https://career.sabanciuniv.edu/ssbf-lisans-yaz-staji-dersi (in Turkish), or contact intern@sabanciuniv.edu

I am not sure whether the jobs I will complete during my internship are enough to satisfy the requirements of PSY 300 course. What should I do?

If the jobs you will complete at your internship institution can be tied to your psychology training and have implications for human behavior, they will count toward the requirements of the PSY 300 course. (Please review the answer to the question “At what kind of institutions can I complete my internship for PSY 300?” that is provided above for further information.)

The list of institutions that psychology students previously completed their summer internships may also give you an idea. To view the list, please visit https://career.sabanciuniv.edu/tr/content/psikoloji Of course, you’re not limited by these institutions; any other institution relevant to your psychology training will be fine.

Also keep in mind that when you enter your internship information into the FASS Internship Online Management System, the internship advisor at the psychology program will review it to see if it is appropriate. If your internship is approved, this means that the advisor found the jobs you will complete sufficient for fulfilling the requirements of PSY 300. Make sure you give a detailed description of the jobs you will complete in the “Internship Project Description” so that the internship advisor may assess the relevance of your internship to psychology. A very short or vague description may result in your internship project being rejected or sent back for revisions.

If you still have questions regarding the appropriateness of your internship institution to fulfill the requirements of the summer internship, please contact the internship advisor at the psychology program (Gul Gunaydin) at gul.gunaydin@sabanciuniv.edu. (In your email, please provide a description of your proposed internship institutions and jobs that you’ll perform in this institution.) Please note that checking in with the internship advisor is entirely optional. Make sure you carefully review the FAQ before contacting the internship advisor. 

What do I write in the Internship Project Description as I enter my internship information to the FASS Internship Online Management System?

Please give a detailed description of the jobs you will complete in the “Internship Project Description” so that the internship advisor at the psychology program may assess the relevance of your internship to psychology. You should be able to give a good account of your proposed internship in approximately 70-120 words. Keep in mind that a very short or vague description may result in your internship project being rejected or sent back for revisions.

DURING THE INTERNSHIP

What should I do during my internship?

You should complete the tasks assigned to you by your supervisor at your internship institution. At the end of each day, you should also complete the internship diary to provide a summary of tasks you have completed on a given day. You may download the template for the internship diary from the FASS Internship Online Management System.

How do I complete the internship diary?

The internship diary aims to keep track of activities that you will complete during your internship on a daily basis. At the end of each day, please provide a list of activities that you completed on that day in bullet points. Please complete the diary while completing your internship (not after your internship is over). Otherwise, you’ll likely forget what you have done each day.

Here are a few examples: “prepared documents that will be used for recruitment”, “entered patients’ survey data to Excel”, “attended a meeting on marketing strategies for a new product”, “taught disadvantaged children exercises helping them cope with stressors”, “helped with writing up a blog post introducing a new educational tool for kids.” Of course, these are just sample activities; the types of activities that you complete will change depending on the nature of your internship.

As you might have noticed from these examples, you are expected to provide summary statements on the activities you have completed on each day without providing lengthy details. You are expected to provide a detailed account of your internship activities and how they are related with your psychology education in your internship report, which you will submit separately from the diary. You will submit your Internship Diary by uploading it as a pdf document to the FASS Internship Online Management System.

Where do I find the template for the internship diary?

You may download the template for the internship diary from the FASS Internship Online Management System. If you have trouble locating it, please contact intern@sabanciuniv.edu

AFTER THE INTERNSHIP

What are the requirements I must complete to be assigned a grade for the PSY 300 course?

You have to complete the following by the announced deadlines to be eligible to receive a grade for the PSY 300 course:
1) You have to complete 20 full days of internship.
2) You have to evaluate your internship institution at the end of your internship.
3) Your supervisor at the internship institution should evaluate your performance.
4) You should submit the completed internship diary as a pdf document in the FASS Internship Online Management System.
5) You should write an internship report by in the format provided on this webpage https://career.sabanciuniv.edu/en/content/proj-300-report-format and submit the report as a pdf document in the FASS Internship Online Management System.

What should I write in my internship report?

You may access the format of the report via this link. https://career.sabanciuniv.edu/en/proj-300-report-format

Please copy these headings in a word document and provide a detailed account of your internship by providing relevant information below each heading.  Please note that your internship report must reflect your own, original work. Copying and pasting information from outside sources (for example, your internship institution’s website) is considered plagiarism and may result in failing the PSY 300 course.

If your internship institution does not have departments (as in the case of a small institution), you may enter “not applicable” to the Department Information section.

In the Major Projects/Accomplishments section, you expected to describe projects that you have completed and your accomplishments during your internship as well as how these experiences are related with your psychology training (that is, what you learned about human behavior during the internship). If you primarily worked on smaller, day-to-day tasks during your internship (which you should describe in the Internship Responsibilities section), you may describe in the Major Projects/Accomplishments section how these tasks are related with your psychology training. After all, if your internship led you to discover or learn new things about human behavior or taught you how to apply your psychology training to day-to-day situations that is a major accomplishment! :)

How long should my internship report be?

Although there are no formal word limits, you are recommended to provide a complete account of your internship in 500-750 words.

I get an error when I try to upload my diary and report to the system. What should I do?

The diary and report should be submitted separately in pdf format. So, convert your documents to pdf and try uploading again. If this doesn’t resolve the problem, contact intern@sabanciuniv.edu for further assistance.

Can I submit my report and diary via email?

No. Only submissions via the FASS Internship Online Management System will be accepted.

My supervisor did not submit an evaluation about me yet. What should I do?

Evaluation forms are sent to supervisors online via the  FASS Internship Online Management System via the email intern@sabanciuniv.edu. Please check with your supervisor that they have received the online evaluation form. If not, check the PSY 300 system to see if your supervisor’s email address is correct. If you notice a mistake or cannot resolve the problem, contact intern@sabanciuniv.edu for further assistance.

When will I receive a grade for the PSY 300 course?

You will receive a grade for the PSY 300 course in the fall semester that follows the completion of your summer internship.

I am eligible to graduate during the summer. Can I be assigned a grade for PROJ 300 at the end of the summer term?

Yes, if you are eligible to graduate during the summer, you may be assigned a grade for PSY 300 by the end of the summer term. However, you must upload your internship diary and internship report to the FASS Internship Online Management System at least two days prior to the end of the finals period. (Please check SU academic calendar to find out when the finals period ends during the summer term.)

CONTACTS

If you have questions about internship procedures, enrollment to the PSY 300 course, or deadlines, please contact intern@sabanciuniv.edu

If you are experiencing difficulties in enrolling to the PSY 300 course during course registrations, please contact Student Resources sr@sabanciuniv.edu and SIS Help sis-help@sabanciuniv.edu. If they are unable to resolve the problem, contact intern@sabanciuniv.edu

If you need assistance with technical issues (problems with uploading your report to the PSY 300 system, etc.), please contact intern@sabanciuniv.edu

If you have questions regarding the appropriateness of your internship institution to fulfill the requirements of the summer internship, please contact the internship advisor at the psychology program (Gul Gunaydin) at gul.gunaydin@sabanciuniv.edu. 

Please make sure you carefully read the FAQ before contacting the internship advisor. Answers to the questions “At what kind of institutions can I complete my internship for PSY 300?” and “I really want to study a specific sub-field of psychology but cannot find a relevant internship. What should I do?” that are provided above are particularly relevant here. If you still have questions after reading the FAQ, email the internship advisor. In your email, please provide a description of your proposed internship institution and the jobs that you’ll perform in this institution. Please note that checking in with the internship advisor on this issue is entirely optional.