Practical training of students

Contents of internship:

Make sure that the internship place meets the requirements outlined in 

Master Programme regulations 2025-2026  

Applications accepted: two weeks before the Module of internship planned

Report submission: last week of internship (to the Intersnip Superivisor).

*If your internship is outside these principles you need to file a formal request to the internship council. Please, note that exemptions need to be thoroughly reasoned.

Internship opportunities:

1) Students can either apply to an internship place offered by the Master's Programme. Please, note that the number of internship places and the list of available organisations proposed by the programme may be subject to change every year and you should wait for the official announcement about the beginning of application period from the programme.
2) Students are also encouraged to take an initiative in finding their own internship place. In this case they should follow the standard application procedure mentioned below.

Application procedure:

1. Internship agreement is a must for those whose place of internship is outside HSE University. You should arrange an official agreement between the internship organization and HSE. Address Lidia Gribanova for the most recent template and advise. Start preparing it in advance (~1 month before the internship start), considering possible bureaucratic delays. Arrange with Lidia Gribanova on the agreement submission deadline personally! 
2. Internship application
   1. Send to Oxana Bondarenko the application draft no later than 14 calendar days before your internship start date. Most probably, your application will need to be revised  several times before it is approved.
   2. Not later than 5 working days before your internship start date Oxana Bondarenko should approve (or finally reject) the application and announce the HSE supervisor (if approved). 
   3. The final approved version of the application must be submitted no later than on the 5^th day of the internship. “Submitted” means that the hard copy with all necessary signatures is delivered to Lidia Gribanova and accepted by her.
3. Internship assignment 

The draft assignment must be sent to Oxana Bondarenko not later than 1 calendar week after your internship start. Do not forget to remove the yellow marker before the submission, it only indicates the positions you should fill out.

The final version should be submitted not later than 2 calendar weeks after the internship starts. “Submitted” means that the hard copy with all necessary signatures is delivered to Lidia Gribanova and accepted by her.

4. Preliminary (draft) internship report together with the draft working materials should be sent to your HSE supervisor by e-mail about 2 weeks before your internship end date. In your Internship assignment this date is indicated as “interim results”. No need to submit anything, but you need to obtain the feedback from your HSE supervisor in order to improve the report. The later you do it, the less time you have for revisions.
5. Final internship report together with the working materials must be received (in hard copy or by e-mail) and approved by your HSE supervisor and Internship Council by the end date of your internship (“approved” means that your HSE supervisor accepts the report and proposes the grade, and Internship Council confirms this grade). The report should be submitted to the study office within 5 working days after approval. For the 3^rd module the report submission deadline is the 27^th of March, NO FURTHER EXTENTION! “Submitted” means that the hard copy with all necessary signatures is delivered to Lidia Gribanova and accepted by her.

Submission and assessment:

1. Your internship will be assessed by an HSE Supervisor according to the ten-point scale (your supervisor at the internship organisation gives a recommended grade at the report).

Internship Instruction 2025-26 Academic Year

Internship Council is responsible for all matters with regard to internships of students.

The Internship Council:

• approves the internship plan prepared by students and the appointment of a qualified specialist as the students’ supervisor during the internship;
• approves the internship report;
• is the contact point for resolving problems during internships.

Internship Council Chairman:
Dr. Stanislav Zaichenko, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Programmes, ISSEK; Leading Research Fellow, Laboratory for Economics of Innovation, ISSEK.

Internship Council Members:
Dr. Dirk Meissner, Distinguished Professor, Department of Educational Programmes, ISSEK; Academic Supervisor of the Master's Programme, ISSEK; Deputy Head, Laboratory for Economics of Innovation, ISSEK;

Oxana Bondarenko, Expert, Centre for Industry and Corporate Projects, ISSEK

Internship Programme

A list of documents to be submitted:

TEMPLATE Application Form

TEMPLATE Assignment Form

TEMPLATE Report

The main goal of Project Seminar
The aim of this course is to consolidate, expand and exercise theoretical and practical skills for successful implementation of projects from start to finish by developing business plans of innovative projects.

The main tasks of Project Seminar
1.   Students will prepare and develop practically applicable business plan for an innovative project.

2.   Discussion of business plans of innovative projects, including market analysis and competition, identification of resources needed, etc.

3.   Students will be able to develop planning skills of the project and its presentations.

The overview of Project Seminar
The course is accompanied by seminars that introduce new approaches to understand and further elaborate different facets of innovation thinking and to provide participants with practical training as well as ready to use state of the art knowledge. Besides, students will present on a regular basis the development of their business plans of practical oriented innovation projects. At last, students will be asked to defend their developed business plans of projects with consideration of discussed aspects.

The Project Seminar consists of four major topics:
1.   Project introduction 
2.   Project environment
3.   Project assessment
4.   Project presentation

Project introduction includes an introductory session where students will understand how to apply specific tools and models in innovation project management, as well as how to manage teamwork. Also during this topic, the ideas of projects will be introduced with taking into account appropriate cases of specific projects across different industries. The session ends with the choice of core stream for which students will be asked to prepare a project.

Project environment allows students to learn market analysis, including identification of current trends in the industry by using suitable strategic planning tools, and evaluating external/internal risk factors. In addition, the competition analysis and the estimation of risks in innovative projects will be introduced.

Project assessment provides understanding and practical knowledge of assessment and forecasting of potential markets by using various approaches within the innovation project management, as well as cost analysis and assessment of the impact of innovation on the cost structure.

Project presentation assumes that students will apply learned knowledge and skills by developing business plans of innovation projects, its discussions and presentations. An oral defense will be held at the last class (final colloquium), in which students present the developed business plan of the innovation project with consideration of addressed issues.

The assessment of the Project Seminar
The final grade will be calculated in accordance with the syllabus of this course. Students are expected to develop and gradually improve their business plans of innovation projects with regular presentations of interim results. Apart from that, by the end of the course students are supposed to submit their final version of business plans of projects as an essay. The oral defense of group project will be held on the final colloquium.

The assessment of the Project
The activities on the Project Seminar classes and developed projects are assessed separately. Students form groups of 3-5 members in order to develop business plan of practical innovative project plan i.e. project. According to HSE regulation the “project is specifically organized, self-motivated students’ activity with the aim to solve practical or theoretical oriented problem. This activity should be done in the form that can be seen, comprehended and applied in real life”.[1] Therefore, the result of the Project Seminar is the developed business plan of innovation project that is submitted with consideration of received feedbacks after the oral defense.

The policies of the Project Seminar
This course is designed for the second year master students and covers two modules. It takes place once or twice a week according to the schedule. Attendance is needed for the learning process. Unsatisfactory results of the Project Seminar is equal to unsatisfactory results of regular classes. 

 [1]Regulations for HSE Student Project Work, Research and Internships

According to the Educational Standard for Management Profile Students of the Master's Programme submit:

• Term Paper during their 1st year of studies;
• Master Thesis as Graduation Paper in the end of the 2nd year of studies.

Preparation and Defense are governed by Regulations on Final State Certification of Students in Bachelor’s, Specialist and Master’s Degree Programmes at National Research University Higher School of Economics  

Deadlines and preparation schedule for academic year 2025-2026: 

Term Paper deadlines

Master Thesis deadlines

Requirements for writing Term Paper/Master Thesis:

Template for Term Paper&Master Thesis

General Requirements for Term Paper and Master Thesis

Term Paper Supervisors&Topics:

TP Supervisors and Topics 

Master's Thesis Supervisors&Topics:

MT Supervisors and Topics