Research assistants (MSc thesis workers), Digital Economic Security Lab DIESL

Start date: Flexible, Fall/Winter 2026-27
Post duration: 6 months
Salary: 2 620,59€ per month full-time (or pro rata for part-time if taking courses concurrently)
Place of work: Aalto University, Computer Science building, room A238

The Digital Economic Security Lab (DIESL) is hiring research assistants to conduct research on the international political economy of digital infrastructures. The research assistants are expected to be final-year MSc students in the Computer Science department (including the Information Networks Master's programme) or of related disciplines and will write their Master's thesis as part of the role. The supervising professor is Vili Lehdonvirta, and the theses will be advised by lab members based on the topic of interest.

The research assistants will be members of DIESL (http://diesl.eu/), a multi-disciplinary research group that brings together diverse expertise in an open and constructive research environment. DIESL members study computational infrastructures and how they are shaped by economic and political forces globally. The group examines the changing geography of these infrastructures and how it is shaped by the interaction of technology companies' business interests and states' economic and security interests.

Thesis topic areas

The research assistant will write a thesis that addresses a research question relevant to DIESL's aims, chosen in consultation with the supervisor and advisor. Potential topics include:

- Data centre survey: Citizen attitude survey of data centres
   - Analysis of a large-scale survey collected with external partners to gauge views on data centre construction and operation in Finland
   - Skills needed: Multivariate statistics and regression modelling using R, Python or Stata, basic understanding of survey design and sampling

- Global cloud adoption: Expand on previous work (see Kilpi, 2025) and tools by gathering more data
   - Focus can be on:
      • Cases of Chinese hosting to enable multi-class hosting provider inference and analysis
      • Expanding the public sector data set with private sector data
      • Identifying the hosting dependencies of specific sectors of government
   - Skills needed: ML/statistics in Python, basic understanding of Internet architecture

- Russian sanctions: Case study on the effects of post-2022 sanctions on Russia's digital infrastructure
   - Drawing on trade and internet measurement data (from OONI, Censored Planet, etc.) to assess disruption, adaptation, and the limits of technological decoupling. Framing and methodology flexible.
   - Focus can be on:
      • Changes in digital infrastructure
      • Changes in internet traffic
      • Changes in Russian domain infrastructure
      • Changes in trade and supply chain for semiconductors
      • Relevant focus of the candidate's choosing
   - Skills needed: Basic econometrics in R/Python, descriptive time-series analysis, network measurement data parsing. Work proficiency of the Russian language is preferred.

- Your own research idea relevant to the lab

Selection criteria

Essential selection criteria (you should have all of these)

1. Strong interest in studying technology from the perspectives of international trade and global politics
2. Attention to detail
3. Skills required to work on a specific research topic (see above)
4. Ability to write fluent academic English

Additional selection criteria (you should have some of these)

1. Basic multivariate statistics (e.g. multiple regression, logistic regression)
2. Basic skills in statistical software (R, Python libraries, etc)
3. Basic understanding of policymaking, industrial policies, and tech governance

How to apply

Submit your application by October 18th via Aalto's online application system. Indicate in your cover letter which topic(s) you are interested in. Please include the following attachments:

1. CV
2. A cover letter that includes a point-by-point response to how your profile matches the selection criteria listed above (max. 800 words)
3. One writing sample demonstrating your academic writing skills in English, not necessarily on a related topic; e.g. a course paper (ideally 1,000-6,000 words)

If your application is shortlisted, you will be contacted to arrange an interview.

Please send any informal queries via email to kunhan.li@aalto.fi (cc otto.kassi@aalto.fi, jaakko.kilpi@aalto.fi, vili.lehdonvirta@aalto.fi) with 'DIESL thesis' in the subject line.

Related readings

Lehdonvirta, V. Wu, B., and Hawkins, Z. (2025). Weaponized interdependence in a bipolar world: How economic forces and security interests shape the global reach of U.S. and Chinese cloud data centres. Review of International Political Economy. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4670764

Kilpi, J., Kässi, O., and Lehdonvirta, V. (2025) Most Finnish digital public services hosted by U.S. cloud providers. DIESL blog. https://diesl.eu/most-finnish-digital-public-services-hosted-by-u-s-cloud-providers/

Kässi, O., & Lehdonvirta, V. (2026). The Heterogeneous Impact of Data Transfer Restrictions on Data Centre Geography. Working paper available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=7429402

Hawkins, Z., Lehdonvirta, V. and Wu, B. (2025). AI Compute Sovereignty: Infrastructure Control Across Territories, Cloud Providers, and Accelerators. Working paper available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5312977

Lehdonvirta, V. Wu, B., and Hawkins, Z. (2024). Compute North vs. Compute South: The Uneven Possibilities of Compute-based AI Governance Around the Globe. 7th AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society. San Jose, CA, October 21-23, 2024. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/8yp7z

Previous theses

Kilpi, J. (2025). Detecting digital dependence: Inferring public-sector hosting arrangements from Internet infrastructural records, https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202512179426

Liukkonen, K. (2025). Competing clouds: U.S.-China tech rivalry and the geoeconomic turn, https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202506174870

Ngo, L. (2025). Regulating the cloud: Cross-border data transfer regulation and the geography of hyperscale cloud infrastructure, https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202601221897

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