ThaiNGO

Develop an integrated, policy-relevant model of the ASEAN energy-transport system to explore pathways for decarbonizing passenger or freight transport while safeguarding reliability and affordability at regional scale. This dual thesis project involves two collaborating students, including one based at SEI Asia in Bangkok.

Scope and approach

The master’s thesis project focuses on modelling the ASEAN regions’s energy-transport system using the Low Emissions Analysis Platform (LEAP). The work aims to generate comparative insights across ASEAN member states, including electricity mixes, charging demand, fuels, infrastructure needs and emissions. The thesis hosted at SEI Asia will form one half of a pair of coordinated theses, with the second student based at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

The geographic focus is the ASEAN region as a whole. The SEI Asia-hosted student will lead data gathering, quality checks, and contextualization of policies, technology uptake, costs and activity data. The joint work will focus on harmonizing the dataset, shared repository, weekly coordination, modelling and a co-authored publication summarizing project findings (peer-reviewed article or brief).

SEI and KTH will facilitate local contacts and data sharing to support field work and data collection.

Key tasks

• Define system boundaries and scenarios (baseline and 2–3 policy/technology cases).
• Compile and harmonize national and/or regional data (activity, technology stocks, efficiency, energy prices, policies).
• Build the model, document assumptions and run scenarios.
• Analyse results (energy use, emissions, costs, infrastructure implications; simple sensitivity tests).
• Produce a concise master thesis report and executive summary.

Expected deliverables

• Calibrated regional model files and a clean input dataset with sources.
• Short methods note (model structure, assumptions, uncertainties).
• Master thesis report in line with university guidelines.
• Each student will submit a seprate master thesis report to their university.
• Presentation to KTH and SEI teams, and where appropriate, a co-authored SEI working paper.

Supervision and support

• Joint supervision from SEI HQ and SEI Asia.
• Access to model licenses and community resources.
• Introductions to regional experts for data validation.
• Hosting at SEI Asia for field work and data collection.

Who you are

MSc. thesis-level student with strong data skills and policy awareness. You can source and interpret regional statistics and policy documents and have beginner-level modelling experience.

Duration

Start date flexible (late 2025–early 2026); typical duration over one academic semester. The two theses run in parallel with coordinated milestones.

Questions?

• For questions regarding the internship, please contact Stefan Bößner, Research Fellow: stefan.boessner@sei.org.
• For academic or project-related questions, please contact Maria Xylia, Senior Research Fellow: maria.xylia@sei.org.

About the internship 

This is an internship opportunity that supports your university thesis through knowledge sharing and data collection. SEI staff will provide mentoring, contacts and data, but SEI is not the principal thesis supervisor and is not involved in thesis assessment or grading. Your principal supervisor and examiner are appointed by your home university.

About SEI

Stockholm Environment Institute is an international non-profit research institute that tackles climate, environment and sustainable development challenges.  

We empower partners to meet these challenges through cutting-edge research, knowledge, tools and capacity building. Scientific quality and integrity are foundations of our work. Partnership is at the heart of our approach, leading to change that lasts.   

Our work connects science to policy and practice, aiming to drive tangible impacts. It spans climate change, natural resources, water, air, and health, and addresses questions of governance, innovation, finance, poverty, gender equality and social equity.

We are committed to transparency and full disclosure of our funding. The Government of Sweden is our largest funder, and we also receive funds from a range of public research funders, philanthropic foundations, bilateral and multilateral development agencies, governments, NGOs and other partners.

Through SEI’s HQ and seven centres around the world, we engage with policy, practice and development action for a sustainable, prosperous future for all.