Frequently Asked Questions

PLI (Perutz Labs Internship) is the management system used at Max Perutz Labs for registering and tracking lab internships ("Scientific Practice") for Master students in the MMB, MNEU and BCE programs at the University of Vienna.

The system supports the following Master programs:

• MMB – Molecular Biology
• MNEU – Molecular Neuroscience
• BCE – Biochemistry

Some supervisors might ask you to have the internship as part of a course they teach at their university (this cannot be the University of Vienna). In this case you will need to:

1. Co-register at the other university using the special co-registration form ("Mitbelegung").
2. Have the form signed by you and your study program director (SPL).
3. Complete the internship and have the grade entered at the other university.
4. Submit your report through this system as usual.
5. Have the final grade recognized by the University of Vienna.

Important: It is your responsibility to maintain the co-registration status – after one semester it must typically be renewed.

Tick the "Co-registration" checkbox during registration if this applies to you.

It is possible to complete an internship within the Erasmus framework at a partner institution abroad. For some Erasmus programs, it is important to have the grade recognized by the University of Vienna.

If this applies to you, tick the "Erasmus" checkbox during registration. After the internship is graded, submit the signed Learning Agreement through this system together with the report for recognition.

Contact the UniVie International Office for details about Erasmus programs and eligibility.

Internship registrations should be submitted before the start of the internship. Reports must be uploaded within the timeframe specified by your coordinator and supervisor. Check with your coordinator for semester-specific deadlines.

Follow these steps:

1. Go to the Registration page.
2. Enter your 8-digit matriculation number.
3. Enter your name and select your study program.
4. Select the appropriate course and confirm lab permission.
5. Enter your supervisor's details (you can search by last name).
6. Enter your project title and a brief description.
7. Review and submit. You will receive a confirmation email with a status code to your university email.

Yes. After submitting your registration, you receive an email with a link that allows you to edit certain fields (such as project title and description) as long as the registration has not yet been formally approved.

Yes. Even if you have already started working on your internship, without the prerequisites completed your internship will not be approved and grades cannot be entered.

• Scientific Practice I and II (301870, 301871) – require completion of module MMB I.
• Advanced Scientific Practice (all Advanced courses) – require completion of both modules MMB I and MMB II.

During registration you will be asked to confirm which prerequisite modules you have completed. Only courses matching your confirmed prerequisites will be shown.

MMB students must complete:

1. 301870 – Scientific Practice I (requires MMB I)
2. 301871 – Scientific Practice II (requires MMB I)
3. One Advanced Scientific Practice course of your choice (requires MMB I + MMB II):
   • 301872 – Advanced Structural Biology
   • 301874 – Advanced Cell Biology
   • 301875 – Advanced Chromosome and RNA Biology
   • 301877 – Advanced Stem and Developmental Cell Biology
   • 301899 – Advanced Immunobiology

You may only register for one Advanced course. Once you have an active or completed Advanced course registration, the other Advanced courses will no longer be available for selection.

MNEU students register for:

• 301880 – Scientific Practice Molecular Neuroscience I
• 301881 – Scientific Practice Molecular Neuroscience II

There are no prerequisite modules required for MNEU courses.

No. Each course can only be completed once. If you have an active or assessed registration for a course, that course will be shown as unavailable during registration. If your previous registration was rejected or withdrawn, you may register again for the same course.

Yes. You need to register and get approval from both the coordinator and the supervisor for each internship individually.

You may optionally combine up to two internships with your Master project; however, you will still have to register each of them independently and prepare a separate written report for each. Consider these as working on different specific aims of the project or as future chapters of your Master thesis.

Ask the supervisor in advance about the tentative plan for the project – it is important for you to know what you will be working on!

The coordinator will check whether the proposed project is:

• Consistent with the goals of your Master program
• Carried out in an active, internationally recognized research group or for-profit partner
• Primarily research-oriented with a clear research objective or working hypothesis

Internships without a clear research objective (such as repetitive measurements in clinical labs, technician jobs and the like) will not be approved.

Each internship is worth 10 ECTS credits, which on average corresponds to approximately 250 hours. It is fine if your internship is a bit shorter or longer – there is no need to modify the begin and end dates.

Please remember that you cannot get more or fewer ECTS credits if you work longer or shorter than the specified 2 months.

Important: project begin and end dates may not overlap with other registered internships!

Yes! Labs have limited capacity for hosting students, so you need to negotiate with the lab:

• The dates of the internship
• A tentative topic
• Who will be your direct supervisor

The system does not assign supervisors or labs – you are responsible for arranging the placement yourself before registering. After you submit your registration, the lab head (supervisor) will receive an email and must formally approve the topic and dates of your internship.

Supervisors must be active researchers (group leaders, postdocs or senior scientists) at:

• Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna
• Research institutes on campus Vienna BioCenter (IMP, IMBA, GMI, CeMM, ISTA, Aythira, etc.)
• Other universities (e.g. Medical University of Vienna, TU, BOKU, VetMed, etc.)
• For-profit companies with R&D departments
• Other research institutions in and outside of Vienna, including European and international research institutions

Your supervisor does not need to be habilitated – this is only required for supervision of Master projects.

During registration, you can search for existing supervisors by last name. If your supervisor is not yet in the system, simply enter their details manually.

If your supervisor has not responded within a few days, please ask them to check their spam/junk folder. The coordinator can also resend the approval email. If the problem persists, contact the coordinator directly.

Changing your supervisor after registration requires coordinator approval. Contact the coordinator to discuss your situation. In most cases, a new registration will need to be created.

Once your internship is approved and completed, you will receive an email with a secure link to upload your report. Reports must be in PDF format. You can upload your report through the provided link at any time before the deadline.

Your report should include:

• A summary of your research question and objectives
• Methods and materials used
• Results and discussion
• Conclusions

Consult your supervisor and coordinator for specific formatting requirements.

After you upload your report, your supervisor submits an assessment evaluating your lab work and report. The coordinator then reviews the assessment and assigns the final grade. Grades follow the standard Austrian scale (1–5).

If your report has not yet been assessed, you may upload a revised version using the same upload link. Once the assessment has been submitted, contact the coordinator if revisions are needed.

PLI works with all modern browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. Please make sure your browser is up to date for the best experience.

Check your spam/junk folder first. Emails are sent from the PLI system and may be filtered. If you still cannot find the email, contact the coordinator who can resend it or provide you with the relevant links directly.

Secure links expire after a set period for security reasons. Contact the coordinator to request a new link for editing your registration, uploading your report, or accessing your status page.