Applications

Applications are the central mechanism through which students interact with projects, case studies, and general opportunities within the platform. They represent a structured request from a student to participate in an opportunity and form the basis of the selection and approval workflow used by supervisors and associations.

An application always belongs to a single student and may optionally be linked to:

  • A Project (hosted by a supervisor)
  • A Case Study (managed by an association on behalf of a company)
  • A General Application (not linked to a specific project or case study, but routed to an association)

Creating an Application

Applications are created by students through the platform interface. When submitting an application, a student provides:

  • Experience — Relevant background or skills
  • Motivation — Why they are interested in the opportunity
  • Interest — Their specific interest in the project or case study
  • Optional comments — Additional remarks

Depending on the application type, the student selects either a project, a case study, or neither (for general applications).

Upon submission:

  • The application is stored with status PENDING
  • The associated supervisor or association is notified via email (for project-based applications)
  • The application becomes visible according to the visibility rules described below

Application Types

Project Applications

  • Linked to a specific project
  • Managed by a Supervisor
  • Used primarily for academic or research-based work

Case Study Applications

  • Linked to a company case study
  • Managed by an Association
  • Represent collaboration with external companies

General Applications

  • Not linked to a specific project or case study
  • Routed to a selected association
  • Used for open-ended interest or exploration

Application Status Pipeline

Applications follow a structured lifecycle:

  • PENDING — The application is awaiting review
  • ACCEPTED — The application has been accepted by a supervisor or association
  • REJECTED — The application has been rejected
  • CONFIRMED — The student has confirmed acceptance

Confirmation Requirement

Once an application has been marked as ACCEPTED, the student must confirm the application within 14 days. If the deadline is exceeded, the application can no longer be confirmed.

Visibility and Permissions

Application visibility and editing rights depend on the application type and the user’s role.

Applied to Visible to Updatable by
Project Student, Project Supervisor, Programme Coordinator (if within scope and thesis-related) Supervisor
Case Study Student, Association managing the company, Programme Coordinator (if within scope and thesis-related) Association
General Application Student, Selected Association Selected Association

Coordinator Restrictions

Programme coordinators can only access applications when:

  • The student belongs to their assigned programme and level
  • The application is marked as relevant (e.g. thesis-related via tags)
  • The application falls within their scoped oversight

This ensures coordinators only access applications relevant to their academic responsibility.

Review Process

Once submitted, applications are reviewed by the responsible party:

Supervisors and Associations can:

  • Review applications
  • Accept or reject applications
  • Provide a mandatory comment when making a decision
  • Assign acceptance timestamps
  • Optionally trigger document creation during acceptance

Acceptance

When an application is accepted:

  • Status is set to ACCEPTED
  • The acceptance timestamp is recorded
  • Optional documents may be created for follow-up workflow steps
  • The student is notified via email

Rejection

When an application is rejected:

  • Status is set to REJECTED
  • The rejection timestamp is recorded
  • The student is notified via email

Student Confirmation

If an application is accepted, the student can:

  • Review the decision and any supervisor comments
  • Confirm the application within the allowed timeframe

Once confirmed:

  • Status is set to CONFIRMED
  • Confirmation timestamp is recorded
  • The application is considered finalized

Ignoring Applications

Users may choose to ignore applications in their personal view. Ignored applications:

  • Are hidden from the user’s application overview
  • Do not affect the underlying application record
  • Can be restored only through system-level mechanisms (not user-facing)

During the acceptance process, supervisors or associations may optionally generate documents linked to the application. These documents:

  • Are associated with the application
  • May require student input or completion
  • Are tracked alongside the application lifecycle

Document handling and workflows are described in the dedicated document management section.

Notifications

The system automatically sends notifications during key events:

  • Application submission (project applications)
  • Application acceptance or rejection
  • Supervisor notifications for new submissions
  • Optional academic supervisor notifications (for PhD-related supervision structures)

These notifications ensure timely communication between students and reviewers.