Each year students of South Ural State University undertake internships, get working experience in real-life industry. Students of the Department of Food and Biotechnology of the SUSU School of Medical Biology have the opportunity to prove themselves not only in the university’s laboratories but also at industrial enterprises.
First of all, internship allows students to choose their area of professional activity. By completing certain tasks at the industry and in laboratories, a student can estimate which sphere is more interesting to him or her. Secondly, the student gets practical experience which is necessary for further employment: when students take part directly in an enterprise’s operation, they acquire self-confidence when passing exams and getting job interviews. Thirdly, students can prove themselves at the enterprise during internship and get employed there in the future.
Students majoring in commodity sciences and process engineering have the possibility to undertake internship in the research laboratory of Commodity Science and Expertise of Goods, equipped with modern facilities. There students can plan experiments and carry out research on problems of interest; this aspect of research activity is especially important for those who is planning on continuing education on master’s degree or postgraduate studies.
Students are sent for internships to companies which cooperate with the SMB Department of Food and Biotechnology, among whom are practically all large companies that are processing products of animal origin as well as plant-based raw material: Niagara, Soyuzpishcheprom, Mary, Pervy Khlebokombinat (the First Bread Baking Plant), Tavria, Ariant, Ravis, Viteks, and other. Also, students can undertake internships in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in independent laboratories and certification centers. Depending on the field of study, specific tasks are set for students.
“Future commodity specialists within the frameworks of internship must review the company’s range of products, the main technology processes, the process of customer service, and display of goods. In the course of industrial internship, students are studying the structure of specific organization, activity of the department which they are working in, document flow, etc. At commercial or industrial enterprises students get involved in the working process more deeply: they carry out control of incoming raw material and finished products, take part in general stages of working with product up to its release,” said Associate Professor of the Department of Food and Biotechnology, Lina Tsirulnichenko.
Many senior-year bachelor’s degree students and master’s degree students get employed in the leading companies of the Chelyabinsk region even before finishing their education at SUSU and successfully combine studying with working. This allows them carrying out research within pre-graduation practice for writing their graduation qualification thesis or master’s dissertation. After the thesis defense, alumni succefffully keep working as highly-trained specialists.