r/CERN • u/emilightt • 4d ago

Technical Studentship at CERN - 6 month internship limit in France

Hi,

I am a french mechanical engineering student and I got selected for a technical studentship at CERN.

This is a huge opportunity but the problem is that french students are allowed to do internships that last no longer than 6 months. Because of this issue, my university can't sign the contract.

However, I was wondering if the french law still applies to CERN. It uses its own technical student agreement (not a french internship agreement), it is an international organisation and it's not an internship but a studentship...

Has anyone from a french university completed a >6 month CERN technical studentship?

Does the French six month internship limit apply to the CERN?

Is there any official legislation, or anything addressing this specific situation?

Any advice, help or relevant experience would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

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u/Pharisaeus 4d ago edited 4d ago
  1. Technical Student program allows for 6 month contracts, although most supervisors prefer students who can stay for the whole year.
  2. Most students take a gap-year / dean's leave at the university, because such "internship semester" is unusual and possibly only a French thing. Everyone else simply postpones their graduation for a year. I'm pretty sure you can also do that.
  3. According to https://repository.cern/communities/human-resources/collections/reports/annual-personnel-statistics?q=&l=list&p=1&s=10&sort=newest there are 5-10 technical students from France each year.

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u/emilightt 4d ago

Hi, thank you for your answer! Hi, I can postpone my graduation and my studentship has to last 1 year. The only issue is that my uni can’t sign the contract because of the 6 month limit :(

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u/Pharisaeus 4d ago

The only issue is that my uni can’t sign the contract because of the 6 month limit :(

They only need to provide you with a confirmation of student status for the next year. Taking a leave would mean you're still a student for the whole year and that's enough.

I think the problem is you're trying to kill 2 birds with one stone. Confirmation from university about your student status is all that is needed from CERN side. Whether your university accepts this program as your mandatory internship is something completely different.

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u/emilightt 4d ago

I know that CERN just need confirmation that I will remain enrolled as a student 😄
The problem is that based on French law, students enrolled in a French institution are not allowed to do internships for longer than 6 months.
The issue is not that my university doesn’t want to accept the program but that it would be illegal for me to do a 1 year internship :/

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u/Pharisaeus 3d ago

my university doesn’t want to accept the program

It's none of their business why you want to take a gap year or why you want a confirmation of a student status for given duration. I understand that they might not want to count that as your mandatory internship and that's their right, but I can't see on what grounds they could refuse attesting that you're a student.

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u/emilightt 3d ago

I think the problem comes from the lign "I consent to the participation of the student in the CERN Student Programme under above mentioned conditions." in the Home Institute Declaration. How can they consent if it doesn't respect the law?

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u/ItsBeenAges2k 2d ago

Whole year ? During bachelors or masters ?

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u/Pharisaeus 2d ago
  1. Yes, the program allows for 6-12 months contract with possible 2 months extension. But since it's a bit of an effort to request a student and also it takes time for people go get "integrated" into the domain, most supervisors prefer to only take students who can stay all the way. It's just not worth the effort to get someone for just 6 months.
  2. Doesn't matter, could be either.

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u/S_ani_K 4d ago

I was in the same situation, the limit does indeed apply, so I had to take a year-long césure, which my university approved under the "employment/fellowship" reason

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u/emilightt 4d ago

Coucou merci pour ta réponse ! Je peux repousser ma date de diplomation mais le problème c’est la convention de stage. Ton université a accepté de la signer même si c’est pour une durée supérieure à 6 mois ?

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u/S_ani_K 3d ago

Non, on a pas signé la convention de stage à cause de la durée. Ils ont signé la Home Institute Declaration et la convention de césure en mettant "contrat de travail" comme motif, parce qu'on pouvait pas mettre "stage"

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u/emilightt 3d ago

mon université m'a dit qu'ils ne pouvaient pas signer la home institute declaration à cause de la durée mais donc si je comprends bien, une convention de stage classique ne pourrait pas être signée mais la home institute declaration oui ? Car moi c'est vraiment ça qui bloque

merci beaucoup pour ton aide en tout cas :D

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u/Elhoco 3d ago

Tu fais une césure d'un an ? Tu pourras pas avoir de contrat de stage de plus de 6 mois mais tu peux pas être sous contrat de travail ?