Students who complete their second-year studies are required to complete the ELIT 290 mandatory summer internship in such a way that complies with all the legal and administrative conditions of the institution, organization, or workplace where they propose to complete their internships.
Each internship should last for 20 consecutive working days (not including weekends or national holidays). The internship should be in-person, not remote. Students should complete their internships between the end of the spring semester and the beginning of the following fall semester. Students who are taking summer school courses should begin their internships after the end of summer school final exams and before the beginning of the fall semester.
Application Process
Before the Internship Begins:
The application process for ELIT 290 begins in the spring semester prior to the summer in which the student will complete their internship.
- First, you will need to find a place to do your internship. You will apply directly to that company, and you will need that company to accept you as a summer intern.
- Next, you will fill out an online application with the ELIT department in which you will ask the department to approve the internship that you found. The online application for the ELIT department is located at the “Summer Training System” (STS) portal on STARS: stars.bilkent.edu.tr/sts. The details of the online application process are below:
-
- Part one of the online STS application (known as the “Company/Institution Approvals” portion of the application) will be due Tuesday, 5 May 2026. It will ask students to provide some information related to the institution where they will complete their internships and to prove that the institution has agreed to take them on as an intern. For this portion of the application, students will need to submit a document titled “ELIT 290 acceptance letter” to the STS portal. That form can be found below, under the heading “ELIT 290 forms.” This form will be completed by an authorized executive from the institution or company where you will be working. It will require signatures and stamps from a representative of the institution where you will be doing your internship. Once the form has been filled out, you should scan it as a PDF and upload it to the “acceptance letter” page on the STS application portal. You will officially submit part one of your application by clicking “Submit for Approval.” The summer internship coordinator for the ELIT department will then review this portion of your application, and will either accept it, reject it, or ask you to revise portions of it if necessary.
-
- Part two of the online STS application (known as the “Department Approvals” portion of the application) will be due Friday, 15 May 2026. It will ask you to enter the dates of your internship, revise your “ELIT 290 firm information and acceptance letter” or other parts of the application if necessary, enter into the system a brief description of the work you will be doing, and specify whether you will need your insurance covered by the SGK. The duration of your ELIT 290 internship must be twenty (20) working days. Please make sure you deduct national holidays and weekends before submitting parts one and two of your application. You will then officially submit part two of your application by clicking “Submit for Approval.” The summer internship coordinator for the ELIT department will then review this portion of your application, and will either accept it, reject it, or ask you to revise portions of it if necessary.
- Bilkent University covers the cost of the students’ national insurance (SGK) necessary for the students’ internship placement, but only for students who do their ELIT 290 mandatory internships in Turkey. For those who do their internships abroad, insurance will not be covered by the university.
- Should the institution/company with which you do your internship require official documents regarding the University’s coverage of the student’s national insurance (SGK), you may download and fill out Form 1c (which is the national insurance entry [SGK] form), Form 1d (which states how long Bilkent University will be paying for the national insurance of the student), and form 1e (an official letter from the internship coordinator that states the duration of the student’s internship and insurance coverage), from the list of documents below. This stage is not mandatory, and that you will need forms 1c, 1d, and 1e only if the institution/company where you will do your internship requires them from you. If your internship manager expects you to provide Forms 1c, 1d and 1e, make sure you fill them out according to your specific internship details and get the signatures needed before submitting them to the institution where you will complete your internship.
During Your Internship:
- During your internship, you are expected to complete weekly activity logs provided in Forms 2a and 2b, both in Turkish and English respectively. Weekly logs must also include the internship manager’s weekly evaluation of your performance. Each week’s report must be signed and stamped officially by the internship manager.
- At the end of your internship, your internship manager must complete Forms 2c and 2d, which provide their overall evaluation of the intern. These forms must be signed and officially stamped by the manager before they are given to the student in a sealed envelope.
After Your Internship:
- During Fall semester’s class registration period, you will enroll in the course “ELIT 290.”
- Students are required to submit Form 2a, Form 2b, Form 2c and Form 2d, Form 2e, and Form 2f in a size A3 envelope to the departmental administrator by the end of the last working day of September. Forms that are not filled out properly or are not signed by the internship manager where necessary will not be accepted. Late submissions will have a negative impact on the evaluation of your documents.
- At the end of the Fall semester, you will either receive a “Satisfactory” (pass) or an “Unsatisfactory” (fail) grade for this course. If you fail to complete the requirements for the internship, do not submit the required forms on time, you will receive an “Unsatisfactory” grade and you will be required to repeat ELIT 290 internship during the following summer. You will not be able to graduate before you successfully complete both ELIT 290 and ELIT 390.
For the complete calendar, see ELIT 290 and ELIT 390 Mandatory Internships Calendar: 2026.
ELIT 290 forms
ELIT 290 acceptance letter You should have a representative from the company fill out this form (typed, not handwritten). They should then sign the bottom of the page by hand, stamp it, and return it to you. You will then scan the document and upload it as a PDF to the STS portal by 5 May 2026.
Form 1c (insurance form; if the company asks for it, you should ask the internship coordinator to sign this form).
Form 1d (obligation form; if the company asks for it, you should ask the internship coordinator to sign this form).
Form 1e (insurance-obligation form; if the company asks for it, you should ask the internship coordinator to sign this form).
Form 2a (Haftalık Staj Raporu), Türkçe
Form 2b (Internship weekly report), English
Form 2c (Staj Değerlendirme Belgesi), Türkçe
Form 2d (Internship Evaluation), English
2e-2f (Student’s report on the internship)
If your internship managers are not proficient in either English or in Turkish, and are therefore unable to fill out the English forms (2b and 2d) or the Turkish forms (2a and 2c), you may use the relevant template from the list below to explain the circumstances and submit it with the rest of your paperwork.
Letter of exemption from 2a/2c (if your internship manager does not speak Turkish)
Letter of exemption from 2b/2d (if your internship manager does not speak English)