Doctoral Researcher, Energy Modeling for Distributed AI Services (MSCA)

About the role

Aalto University is recruiting one doctoral researcher (3 years) for the AEGIS network, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network funded by the EU and running from 2026 to 2030. The network trains 15 PhD students in software-defined technologies that turn edge data centers into active, carbon-efficient and grid-interactive resources. The researcher works on "End-to-End Energy Modeling for Distributed AI Services", building analytical models and systems that make energy and carbon costs of AI workloads visible.

Key responsibilities

• Develop compositional energy models for disaggregated radio (RAN) components, transport networks and datacenter hardware.
• Build a low-latency query API that returns the end-to-end energy cost of an AI service.
• Deliver validated models with less than 10% prediction error on the Aalto and Ericsson testbeds, and a query API returning estimates in under 100 ms.
• Write a doctoral dissertation.
• Spend two research visits: 3 months at Ericsson (Finland) testing models on its testbeds, and 3 months at TU Wien combining digital-twin and end-to-end energy models.

Required profile

• Master's degree in computer science, communications engineering, telecommunications or a related field (CGPA at least 4/5).
• No doctoral degree at the time of recruitment; mobility rule applies (no more than 12 months in Finland in the 36 months before recruitment).
• Fluency in written and spoken English, demonstrated within 6 months of starting doctoral studies.
• Applicants must submit a short motivation letter, sample code, two references and transcripts of grades.

Required skills

• Experience in AI and machine learning, including DNN architectures and training models.
• Understanding of computer and telecom networks (e.g. RAN).
• Empirical measurements; prior work on energy or power measurement is strongly preferred.
• Data analysis and analytical modeling; good programming skills, with a code sample provided during recruitment.

What we offer

• Membership of the Cloud and Network Computing group, advised by a full professor, in the Department of Information and Communications Engineering.
• Three-year employment contract starting in March 2027 or earlier, with a start no later than June 2027.
• Application is made through the university's recruitment site; Aalto employees use the internal HR system.