Degree programme-specific traineeship instructions

NEU-404 Practical training 1, 5-10 cr and NEU-405 Practical training 2, 5 cr

Timing
Optional studies. Recommended to be completed during the first or second year, but before the Master’s thesis. 
 

Learning outcomes  

After the practical training period, the student

• has acquired practical experience in a research group or company
• has improved her/his ability to apply and assess her/his own knowledge and skills
• has improved her/his ability for independent work and reporting of results
• has enhanced her/his potential as a future jobseeker in a wider network within the field of study

Contents  
The practical training can be completed in a research group operating at the university, a research institute or a company, related to the student’s field of studies. NEU-404 and NEU-405 can be done in the same research group or company only if the project or the methods applied are different, and if the two training periods do not form a continuum in the same group or company. The student may be employed and payed a salary during the training period.
 
Completion  
After finding a group, the student registers to NEU-404 Practical training in Sisu to confirm the training period and the name of the supervisor. Before starting the practical training period, the student makes a plan for practical training (tasks/methods/aims) with the supervisor. A total working time corresponding to at least one month of full time work and the training report are required to obtain 5 cr. After the period, the student will write a report according to the given instructions.

Assessment practices and criteria  
Grading pass / fail. This will be estimated according to the internship plan and the report and the statement given by the employer or supervisor.

Students are responsible for finding their own placement. Contact principal investigators that work in the area of neuroscience or physiology (depending on your study track) that interests you the most. Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and HiLife (including Neuroscience Center, Institute of Biotechnology and Finnish Institute of Molecular Medicine) have several groups working in various fields of neuroscience and physiology. Also, check groups of the Faculties of Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine. 

You can also look for practical placement outside of the academia/university - e.g. government training (Valtiolle.fi).

After finding a group, register to NEU-404 Practical training to confirm the training period and the name of the supervisor. With the supervisor, make a plan for practical training (tasks/methods/aims). You do not need to send your training plan to the Master's programme - you just need to do it with your supervisor.

The training period can be completed in a research group operating at the university, a research institute or a company, and the total working time must correspond to at least one month of full-time work in order to obtain 5 Cr. However, it does not need to be full time work – you can take courses in between if that is OK for your supervisor. When counting the credits, the actual working time in the lab will be the estimated based on your own and your supervisor’s report.

Please note that in order to be worth 10 credits, the training period must include more diverse tasks and offer a more comprehensive learning experience instead of just lasting twice longer than a 5 cr training period.    

The PI is responsible for providing you the necessary materials and facilities for the training period and for naming a (co-)supervisor that will be able to help you in the lab. On the other hand, you will commit to working with the supervisor and completing the tasks assigned to you as well as you can. At the end of the training period, the PI should confirm the time you have worked in the lab by sending an email to the responsible person.  

After completing the training, please write a short research report (a few pages) on the work you have done. It should contain introduction, description of the experimental methods, results, and discussion. Also negative results can be reported, the point here is not how good results you have got, but that you learn to write and report what you have done in a scientific manner. The main emphasis should be on point 6 (reflection and your own role in the projects).

The report should include the following parts:

1. Title page: where and when the training was done (name, topic, dates, lab/institute, supervisor). Did you do your traineeship full-time or part-time at the same time as your courses? For example, if you did an internship part-time for several months, please evaluate how it compared in time to a full-time internship.
2. Introduction: rationale and background of the work
3. Experimental methods used: what methods you learned during your traineeship - what role you played in using the methods 
4. Results: if you obtained any research results during your internship, tell us about them. You can also include pictures and/or tables in your report.
5. Discussion: Describe the implications of your findings in relation to other findings of the research team and further research.
6. Reflect your learning process. What did you learn about research work and the working methods of a research team. 

Once your report is ready:

1. Send it to your supervisor(s) and ask them to read it through and to give comments.
2. Update the report based on your supervisor(s) comments.
3. Send the updated/final report to the responsible person of NEU-404 or NEU-405 (Katri Wegelius or Mikael Segerstråle) AND to your supervisor. In the email, ask your supervisor to confirm to KW or MS that they have read the report and that you have worked in the lab for the specified period.

• Mikael Segerstråle 
• Katri Wegelius