I have a title of docent in General history. I am a historian with a strong focus on economic modernization in the Soviet Union and Russia, especially the economic history of the Cold War and the transfer of technology between East and West during the Cold War. 

I am director of the international MA programme in Russian, Eurasian, and Eastern European Studies (MAREEES, former Russian Studies MARS). I teach on MAREEES programme and other study programmes at the University of Helsinki. I act as a supervisor in the international INREES research training network. I’m also a vice director of the INREES network.

I am a research member of the Finnish Historical Society, a chair of the advisory board of the Slavonic Library, a member of the scholarly editorial council of the journal Baltic Worlds and member of the advisory board of the journal Scandia.

Since 2018 I've taken on the responsibilities of vice-director at the Aleksanteri Institute.