Rajapinta ry has granted its 2025 thesis scholarship to two outstanding works.
The first recipient is Selma Suppanen for her master’s thesis Pilvien paikat – Pilvien paino – aineelliset jännitteet datakeskusten diskursseissa (Heavy clouds – Material Traces in Data Center Discourses) (University of Tampere), and the second is Kaarlo Liukkonen for his master’s thesis Competing Clouds: U.S.–China Tech Rivalry and the Geoeconomic Turn (Aalto University).
Suppanen’s thesis examined the discourses of the Finnish data center debate from the perspective of data center companies, analyzing the linguistic, visual, and narrative strategies through which companies frame the relationship between the sustainability transition and technological development. Her work was accepted into the Social Studies degree program at the University of Tampere in summer 2025.
Liukkonen’s thesis explored the competition between U.S. and Chinese cloud service providers through the concept of the geoeconomic turn, focusing on how demand for cloud services in different geographical regions has evolved from the perspective of the providers’ home countries. His work was accepted at Aalto University in spring 2025 in the Information Networks program under the subject Digital Ethics, Society and Politics.
This year, Rajapinta received a total of eleven proposals for the thesis scholarship. All submitted theses were of high quality and had been approved between September 1, 2024, and August 31, 2025. Suppanen and Liukkonen were awarded the prize at the House of Science in Helsinki on November 13, 2025, during the Interface Days event.
The scholarship committee in 2025 consisted of:
Erkki Mervaala, researcher, Finnish Environment Institute (chair)
Nuppu Pelevina, doctoral researcher, University of Vaasa, University of Helsinki
Salla-Maaria Laaksonen, university researcher, University of Helsinki
Stefanie Sirén-Heikel, doctoral researcher, University of Helsinki.
Hanna Reinikainen, postdoctoral researcher, University of Helsinki
Matti Nelimarkka, yliopistonlehtori, University of Helsinki
Rajapinta 