Courses objectives
The objectives of the individual internship are to apply the knowledge and skills acquired during the academic phase and to integrate into a professional network. It allows students to carry out work independently while receiving personalized guidance. As part of the internship, students are expected to work in an international context and often in tropical regions that may be geographically and economically isolated, where their ability to adapt, work independently, and take initiative will be heavily relied upon.
Course contents
The individual internship, lasting at least five months, focuses on environmental issues in the broadest sense in tropical regions, both within “natural” ecosystems and production systems in which trees are a major component. Preparation for this internship takes place throughout the first semester. It includes discussions with AgroParisTech’s partner institutions in the fields of research (CIRAD, IRD, INRA, CNRS, universities, etc.) and higher education (Montpellier Supagro, IAMM) located on the Agropolis campus in Montpellier. The “fieldwork” portion of the internship lasts a minimum of 3 months and takes place, barring justified exceptions, in a tropical country. The topic, as well as the material and supervisory conditions of the internship, are approved by the program’s faculty and the internship advisor following the evaluation of a project proposal defended before a committee as part of the “Scientific Communication” module.
Teaching and learning methods
The internship culminates in the writing of a thesis and a public defense before a jury composed of at least the internship supervisor, the AgroParisTech faculty advisor, and an external reviewer working on a topic related to the internship; one of these members must be a faculty member.
Course evaluation
Preparation for the internship is assessed based on a thesis and a presentation of the internship project. The internship work is evaluated during a public presentation before a jury in Montpellier, during which the content of the thesis, the quality of the responses to the jury’s questions, and the student’s conduct during the internship are assessed.
Target skills
Ability to:
- develop a work plan following a research framework that involves local communities in a developing country
- analyze and discuss key issues related to natural resource management
- conduct a critical analysis and propose appropriate alternatives