diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a1d6177..68684d2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+- V 0.18.0: Implemented calibration with a StudentT distribution to mimic Bchron and established that as the new default. Reimplemented the --method option of the CLI tool to reflect that change.
 - V 0.17.0: Changed argument order in CalCurve data type to adjust to the order in .14C files
 - V 0.16.0: Refactoring in the library to simplify and clarify the interface
 - V 0.15.0: Added another calibration algorithm (following the implementation by Andrew Parnell in Bchron) and a method switch for the CLI
diff --git a/currycarbon.cabal b/currycarbon.cabal
index 256ac56..b47cca8 100644
--- a/currycarbon.cabal
+++ b/currycarbon.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:                currycarbon
-version:             0.17.0
+version:             0.18.0
 synopsis:            A package for simple, fast radiocarbon calibration
 description:         Radiocarbon calibration with the intercept method optimised for fast calibration of many dates.
 license:             MIT
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ library
     exposed-modules:    Currycarbon.Parsers, Currycarbon.Types, Currycarbon.Utils, Currycarbon.Calibration, 
                         Currycarbon.CLI.RunCalibrate, Currycarbon.CalCurves.Intcal20
     hs-source-dirs:     src
-    build-depends:      base, filepath, parsec, parallel, vector
+    build-depends:      base, filepath, parsec, parallel, vector, statistics
     default-language:   Haskell2010
 
 executable currycarbon
diff --git a/src-executables/Main-currycarbon.hs b/src-executables/Main-currycarbon.hs
index 5b523e2..7d0e9cb 100644
--- a/src-executables/Main-currycarbon.hs
+++ b/src-executables/Main-currycarbon.hs
@@ -88,17 +88,17 @@ parseCalCurveFromFile = OP.option (Just <$> OP.str) (
     )
 
 parseCalibrationMethod :: OP.Parser CalibrationMethod
-parseCalibrationMethod = OP.option (OP.eitherReader readCalibrationMethod) (
+parseCalibrationMethod = OP.option (OP.eitherReader readCalibrationMethodString) (
     OP.long "method" <>
-    OP.help "The calibration algorithm that should be used: Bchron (default) or MatrixMultiplication" <>
-    OP.value Bchron
+    OP.help "The calibration algorithm that should be used: \
+            \\"<Method>,<Distribution>,<NumberOfDegreesOfFreedom>\". \
+            \The default setting is equivalent to \"Bchron,StudentT,100\" \
+            \which copies the algorithm implemented in the Bchron R package. \
+            \Alternatively we implemented  \"MatrixMult\", which comes without further arguments. \
+            \For the Bchron algorithm with a normal distribution (\"Bchron,Normal\") \
+            \the degrees of freedom argument is not relevant" <>
+    OP.value (Bchron $ StudentTDist 100)
     )
-  where
-    readCalibrationMethod :: String -> Either String CalibrationMethod
-    readCalibrationMethod s = case s of
-        "MatrixMultiplication"  -> Right MatrixMultiplication
-        "Bchron"                -> Right Bchron
-        _                       -> Left "must be Bchron or MatrixMultiplication"
 
 parseDontInterpolateCalCurve :: OP.Parser (Bool)
 parseDontInterpolateCalCurve = OP.switch (
diff --git a/src/Currycarbon/Calibration.hs b/src/Currycarbon/Calibration.hs
index 7dc35a6..0039ba6 100644
--- a/src/Currycarbon/Calibration.hs
+++ b/src/Currycarbon/Calibration.hs
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ import qualified Data.Vector.Unboxed as VU
 import qualified Data.Vector as V
 import Data.Vector.Generic (convert)
 import Data.Maybe (fromMaybe)
+import Statistics.Distribution (density)
+import Statistics.Distribution.StudentT (studentT)
+--import Statistics.Distribution.Normal (normalDistr)
 
 -- | Calibrates a list of dates with the provided calibration curve
 calibrateDates :: CalibrationMethod -- ^ Calibration method
@@ -32,8 +35,8 @@ calibrateDates :: CalibrationMethod -- ^ Calibration method
 calibrateDates _ _ _ [] = []
 calibrateDates MatrixMultiplication interpolate calCurve uncalDates =
     map (calibrateDateMatrixMult interpolate calCurve) uncalDates `using` parList rpar
-calibrateDates Bchron interpolate calCurve uncalDates =
-    map (calibrateDateBchron interpolate calCurve) uncalDates `using` parList rpar
+calibrateDates Bchron{distribution=distr} interpolate calCurve uncalDates =
+    map (calibrateDateBchron distr interpolate calCurve) uncalDates `using` parList rpar
 
 calibrateDateMatrixMult :: Bool -> CalCurve -> UncalC14 -> CalPDF
 calibrateDateMatrixMult interpolate calCurve uncalC14 =
@@ -44,8 +47,8 @@ calibrateDateMatrixMult interpolate calCurve uncalC14 =
         calPDF = projectUncalOverCalCurve uncalPDF calCurveMatrix
     in normalizeCalPDF calPDF
 
-calibrateDateBchron :: Bool -> CalCurve -> UncalC14 -> CalPDF
-calibrateDateBchron interpolate calCurve uncalC14@(UncalC14 name age ageSd) =
+calibrateDateBchron :: CalibrationDistribution -> Bool -> CalCurve -> UncalC14 -> CalPDF
+calibrateDateBchron distr interpolate calCurve uncalC14@(UncalC14 name age ageSd) =
     let rawCalCurveSegment = getRelevantCalCurveSegment uncalC14 calCurve
         CalCurve cals mus tau1s = prepareCalCurveSegment interpolate True rawCalCurveSegment
         ageFloat = -(fromIntegral age)+1950
@@ -53,7 +56,9 @@ calibrateDateBchron interpolate calCurve uncalC14@(UncalC14 name age ageSd) =
         ageSd2Float = fromIntegral ageSd2
         musFloat = VU.map fromIntegral mus
         tau1sFloat = VU.map fromIntegral tau1s
-        dens = VU.zipWith (\mu tau1 -> dnorm 0 1 ((ageFloat - mu) / sqrt (ageSd2Float + tau1 * tau1))) musFloat tau1sFloat
+        dens = case distr of
+            NormalDist -> VU.zipWith (\mu tau1 -> dnorm 0 1 ((ageFloat - mu) / sqrt (ageSd2Float + tau1 * tau1))) musFloat tau1sFloat
+            StudentTDist numberOfDegreesOfFreedom -> VU.zipWith (\mu tau1 -> dt numberOfDegreesOfFreedom ((ageFloat - mu) / sqrt (ageSd2Float + tau1 * tau1))) musFloat tau1sFloat
     in normalizeCalPDF $ CalPDF name cals dens
 
 -- | Take an uncalibrated date and a raw calibration curve and return
@@ -150,6 +155,11 @@ dnorm mu sigma x =
         c2 = c * c
         sigma2 = sigma * sigma
     in a*b
+    -- alternative implemenation with the statistics package: 
+    -- realToFrac $ density (normalDistr (realToFrac mu) (realToFrac sigma)) (realToFrac x)
+
+dt :: Double -> Float -> Float
+dt dof x = realToFrac $ density (studentT (realToFrac dof)) (realToFrac x) -- dof: number of degrees of freedom
 
 normalizeCalPDF :: CalPDF -> CalPDF
 normalizeCalPDF (CalPDF name cals dens) = 
@@ -175,7 +185,7 @@ refineCalDate (CalPDF name bps dens) =
         cumsumDensities = scanl1 (+) $ map snd sortedDensities
         isIn68 = map (< 0.683) cumsumDensities
         isIn95 = map (< 0.954) cumsumDensities
-        contextualizedDensities = reverse $ sort $ zipWith3 (\(year,density) in68 in95 -> (year,density,in68,in95)) sortedDensities isIn68 isIn95
+        contextualizedDensities = reverse $ sort $ zipWith3 (\(y,d) in68 in95 -> (y,d,in68,in95)) sortedDensities isIn68 isIn95
     in CalC14 name (densities2HDR68 contextualizedDensities) (densities2HDR95 contextualizedDensities)
     where
         densities2HDR68 :: [(Int, Float, Bool, Bool)] -> [HDR]
diff --git a/src/Currycarbon/Parsers.hs b/src/Currycarbon/Parsers.hs
index 07ee724..4fb5af6 100644
--- a/src/Currycarbon/Parsers.hs
+++ b/src/Currycarbon/Parsers.hs
@@ -15,6 +15,31 @@ import qualified Data.Vector as V
 -- This module contains a number of functions to manage data input and 
 -- output plumbing for different datatypes
 
+-- CalibrationMethod
+readCalibrationMethodString :: String -> Either String CalibrationMethod
+readCalibrationMethodString s =
+    case P.runParser parseCalibrationMethodString () "" s of
+        Left err -> error $ "Error in parsing method from string: " ++ show err
+        Right x -> Right x
+
+parseCalibrationMethodString :: P.Parser CalibrationMethod
+parseCalibrationMethodString = do
+    P.try bchron P.<|> matrixMultiplication
+    where
+        bchron = do
+            _ <- P.string "Bchron,"
+            P.try studentT P.<|> normal
+        studentT = do
+            _ <- P.string "StudentT,"
+            dof <- read <$> P.many1 P.digit
+            return (Bchron $ StudentTDist dof)
+        normal = do
+            _ <- P.string "Normal"
+            return (Bchron NormalDist)
+        matrixMultiplication = do
+            _ <- P.string "MatrixMult"
+            return MatrixMultiplication
+
 -- CalC14
 writeCalC14s :: FilePath -> [CalC14] -> IO ()
 writeCalC14s path calC14s = writeFile path $ 
diff --git a/src/Currycarbon/Types.hs b/src/Currycarbon/Types.hs
index 618fcaa..5df16f8 100644
--- a/src/Currycarbon/Types.hs
+++ b/src/Currycarbon/Types.hs
@@ -14,7 +14,15 @@ import qualified Data.Vector as V
 -- | Different calibration algorithms implemented in currycarbon
 data CalibrationMethod =
     MatrixMultiplication -- ^ Matrix multiplication method
-  | Bchron -- ^ Algorithm similar to the clever implementation in the R package Bchron by Andrew Parnell
+  | Bchron { 
+      distribution :: CalibrationDistribution
+    } -- ^ Algorithm similar to the clever implementation in the R package Bchron by Andrew Parnell
+
+data CalibrationDistribution = 
+    NormalDist
+  | StudentTDist {
+      ndf :: Double
+    }
 
 -- | A data type to represent an uncalibrated radiocarbon date
 data UncalC14 = UncalC14 {