ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ

Writing a master's thesis is a task that you mainly have to do on your own. This was what I was doing at the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ of St Andrews in Scotland until I suddenly had to fly home in mid-March.

Now I am with my parents and I am doing very well. In St Andrews I mainly stared at a screen, and here I do the same. Nothing has changed in that regard. Fortunately, I was able to create my own workplace where I can work quietly. In Scotland I found distraction in the pub; here by exercising and pausing regularly after which I can focus again.

At the moment I especially miss the informal discussions during the coffee breaks, which unconsciously further your research. Now you are dealing with emailing and (less often) video calling.

Doing my thesis research means that I am in my last year of the two-year curriculum of Climate Physics master. Students in their first year depend much more on contact education, which contributes significantly to generating enthusiasm for the subject. With fewer contact hours, students meet less. Moreover, these hours provide the necessary short communication lines between teachers and students. I am therefore not in favor of giving distance learning a greater share in future education. If you do see this as an attractive alternative, you can always switch to studying law.

Jan Bouke  Pronk

Climate Physics Master student