Both host institutes and technical students highly value Technical Internships
The International Association for Engineering Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE) provides internship opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields to more than 370,000 students since 1948.
Prf. Makoto Yamamoto at Tokyo University of Science, a host institute in Japan, comments:
“Our laboratory hosts students from all over the world, especially from Europe, every year. The interns are highly skilled technically and help to advance the research. In addition, both Japanese students and interns develop a global awareness in the laboratory through mutual interaction”.
Kentaro Nakayama, who recently finished internship in Germany said:” I was able to work on scientific research in a different major, cultural background, and language, and to acquire practical knowledge and new experimental skills. Furthermore, the feeling that I was able to communicate and share invaluable time with my local floor mates and lab mates was very reassuring for my future challenges in a new environment”.
Having intern students from other countries brings about changes both in the workplace’s atmosphere and students’ awareness. On the other hand, for Japanese students, the focus on internship is more on preparation for employment while companies have become more aware of this as a method of recruiting students in recent years. IAESTE exchanges students on the one-to-one basis; many Japanese students want to have an intern experience in Europe, and vice versa. Thus, every year, approximately 90% of IAESTE Japan's student exchange partners are European countries.
Number of exchanged students between Europe and Japan
| Exchange year | from Japan to Europe | from Europe to Japan |
| 2019 | 42 | 53 |
| 2020 | 0 | 1 |
| 2021 | 11 | 0 |
| 2022 | 15 | 21 |
| 2023 | 25 | 28 |
| 2024 | 31 | 33 |
The number of exchanges by IAESTE Japan, after the pandemic, has started to recover. Its activities, such as the organization of a welcome program for incoming interns, have also been revived. IAESTE Japan hopes that European and Japanese companies and universities will be more interested in IAESTE's activities and provide internship opportunities as host institutes.
General enquiries: maf-iaeste@mynavi.jp
Enquiries about accepting interns and internship applications: info@iaeste.org
Source: IAESTE
Picture above shows Kentaro Nakayana at University of Hohenheim, where he worked as a research assistant
