Students who complete their third-year studies are required to complete the ELIT 390 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 will last for 20 working days. 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 390 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 on your own. In other words, while you will find the internship on your own, you will have to fill out a separate online application asking the ELIT department to tell you whether or not the internship you have found is suitable. The online application for the ELIT department can be found by going to stars.bilkent.edu.tr and clicking on the link at the bottom of the page, titled STS (Summer Training System). The details of the online application process with the department are below:
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- Part one of the online STS application (known as the “Company/Institution Approvals” portion of the application) will be due 5 May 2025. 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 fill out and submit a document titled “ELIT 390 firm information and acceptance letter” to the STS portal. That form can be found below, under the heading “ELIT 390 forms.” The STS portal will ask you for an “acceptance letter,” and you may submit this completed form as your acceptance letter. This form will be completed partially by an authorized executive from the institution or company where you will be working: the last page of the form will require signatures and stamps. Once the form has been filled out, you should scan it as a PDF and upload it to the STS application portal. You will then officially submit part one of your application by clicking the button called “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.
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- Part two of the online STS application (known as the “Department Approvals” portion of the application) will be due 16 May 2025. It will ask you to enter the dates of your internship, revise your “ELIT 390 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 390 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 to avoid experiencing any insurance-related issues. You will then officially submit part two of your application by clicking the button called “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.
- As a rule, Bilkent University covers the cost of the students’ national insurance (SGK) necessary for the students’ internship placement, but the university provides national insurance only for students who do their ELIT 390 mandatory internships in Turkey. The insurance payment for those who do their internships abroad 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), students may obtain Form 1c (which is the national insurance entry (SGK) form), as well as Form 1d (which officially states how long Bilkent University will be paying for the national insurance of the student) and form 1e (which is an official letter from the internship coordinator that declares the duration of the student’s internship and insurance coverage), from the department’s website. Please note that this stage is not mandatory, and that you will need forms 1c, 1d, and 1e 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 must enroll to “ELIT 390” course in order to qualify to submit your internship portfolios.
- Students are expected 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 ELIT 390 internship fulfilment.
- ELIT 390 Summer Internship is a credit-free but mandatory course. 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 specified in this directive, do not submit the required forms on time, and receive an “Unsatisfactory” grade, you will be required to repeat ELIT 390 internship during the following summer. Please keep in mind that 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: 2025
ELIT 390 Forms
ELIT 390 firm information and acceptance letter. You should have the company fill out the final page of this form (typed, not handwritten). A representative from the company should then sign the bottom of the page by hand, stamp it, scan it, and return it to you. You will then upload the full document as a PDF, including the “information sheet” portion of the form and the acceptance letter, to the portal on STS by 5 May 2025.
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).
Additional Documents:
Letter of Exemption from English/Turkish Forms
Students whose internship managers are not proficient in either English or in Turkish, and are, therefore, unable to fill out the English forms (2b 2d) or the Turkish forms (2a and 2c), should use this Exemption Letter Template to explain the circumstances and submit it with the rest of their paperwork.