“I am finally starting to write today (Monday, ed.). The official deadline is Friday.” That is not possible, is it? Fortunately, the 23-year-old Barbora Rakovanová has been given a few weeks’ extension for her thesis. “A couple of months ago, I had a chest infection, which took me out for a time,” says the Slovak woman. Rakovanová is doing a master’s in Econometrics, a follow-up to her bachelor’s at Maastricht University.
For her thesis, she is looking at climate changes in various locations in the United States. In doing so, she compares the macroclimate with the microclimate. The first refers to the temperature two metres above ground. The temperature below ground is different. That is where you will find a microclimate. It is about the circumstances on a small scale. She wonders, for example, whether it makes a difference whether the area is covered in forests or built up, or whether there is grass growing. These questions remain unanswered for now, despite the fact that she has been knee deep in statistics for months. “I have an indication, but as yet no answers. For that, I need to carry out some more analyses.”
Despite her extension, Rakovanová is not quite without stress. She is actually going to Norway in August. Not for a holiday, but to do a semester at the University of Oslo. “In order to be accepted there, I have to have completed my thesis first. It is not a compulsory part, it just seems like fun to me.”