It was established by 8 partner institutions (Istanbul Şehir University, Üsküdar University, Kadir Has University, Sabancı University, Istanbul Chamber of Industry, Turkish Informatics Foundation and the Turkish Cultural Foundation - AFS) including Istanbul Kültür University, as part of the "Mobility Project for Higher Education Students and Staff " under "Erasmus+ Learning Mobility of Individuals" (Key Action 1) which will continue from 2014 to 2020 and has the support of the European Commission and the Republic of Türkiye.
The Internship Consortium aims to conjoin the mobility experiences of higher education institutions between 2004 and 2013 and the employment profile of the sector. Through Internship Mobility, the aim is to establish a wide national and international communication network through an exchange of experiences between industry-university-NGO and professional representatives.
TARGETS
The European Internship Consortium will mainly support the internship mobility of university students and the mobility of the academic/administrative staff of the universities.
Within the framework of the mutual goals of Vision 2023 and Europe 2020, the ultimate goal of the consortium is to improve the cooperation culture of university-industry-NGOs and professional organizations which will contribute to the employment of a qualified labor force and the modernization of higher education areas.
The objectives of the consortium may be summarized as follows:
- To establish a beneficial network of international internships including higher education institutions,
- To provide a functional structure that will work fast and meet the sectoral expectations for the relation between professional organizations and higher education institutions,
- To ensure that good practices and experiences are transferred between Consortiums within the framework of cooperation by communicating with similar Consortiums operating in Europe, thus strengthening university-industry cooperation on an international level,
- To provide the labor market with competent graduates who are fit for the labor force profile that the sector needs,
- To contribute to the increase of synergy between higher education institutions through the consortium’s partnerships and experience potential,
- To provide a practical and functional framework for collaborations that higher education institutions have established with industry within the scope of internship mobility and to transfer the experience gained through this collaboration to universities through the development of new curricula and updating the curricula when necessary,
The targeted outputs within the scope of the Consortium include:
- To equip students with the ability to choose their own profession and manage their careers by determining methods of self-improvement in light of the experience they gain in their internship and to create a culture of being active in building their own careers,
- To raise awareness in line with the objectives of the consortium in the sectors in which employment profiles related to internship mobility will be created,
- To enable students to gain international experience and perspective in their academic fields of study, to enhance their ability to adapt to multicultural business environments,
- To provide work experience during study and/or to give students the opportunity to properly start career planning with an internship as soon as they graduate,
- To support the entrepreneurial potential of students,
- To provide equality of opportunity for disadvantaged students (disabled students, students raised in an orphanage, students with limited economic opportunities etc.) through positive discrimination,
- To support the establishment of more Consortiums by sharing experiences with other agencies as an example of good practice in Türkiye.
