Hi, my name is Julia Rotert and from October 2025 to April 2026 I completed my external semester internship at 52°North. I grew up in Münster and am currently studying for my Master’s degree in Geoinformatics and Spatial Data Science at the University of Münster.

After completing my Bachelor’s degree in Applied Geodesy in Oldenburg, I returned to my home town and worked as a surveying engineer, focusing on geodata analysis and QGIS. During that time, my interest in geosoftware continuously increased. I wanted to deepen my understanding of software development and move from the user to the developer side of geospatial technologies.

I got to know 52°North through my studies and was immediately interested in the company because of their interesting projects, close connection to research, open-source philosophy, and the location in Münster. I decided to spend my external semester there to gain insights into professional software development and learn more about geospatial technologies in practice.

During my time at 52°North, I first worked on the PEOPLE-ECCO Project, where I focused on frontend development. I gained my first practical experience with JavaScript, React, UI component systems and geospatial frameworks, such as OpenLayers and Open Pioneer Trails.

 

My second task was to develop a QGIS plugin to display real-time data within the map canvas and as plots in the UI. This plugin, called QPegel, integrates the PegelOnline Dict-API, enabling map-based searches for sensor stations as well as simple subscriptions to MQTT topics. This project allowed me to dive deeply into QGIS plugin development, expand my Python skills, work with PyQGIS, and learn about UI design using PyQt.

 

The internship gave me many new insights and paractical knowledge. I improved my development skills, learned new programming languages and tools, and gained practical experience with modern libraries and frameworks used in web and geospatial development. I especially enjoyed working on innovative projects in a completely new field.

What I liked most about my internship was the welcoming and supportive atmosphere at 52°North. The colleagues were very kind, communication was always fast and I really appreciated the efficient meeting culture. Another personal highlight for me were the office dogs — and the fact that I could even bring my own dog, Cleo, to the office.

In the future, I will finish my Master’s degree while continuing to work at 52°North as a student assistant. I also plan to write my Master’s thesis in collaboration with the company.