Associate Professor
Aalto University
School of Science
Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis
Otakaari 1, 02150 Espoo, Finland
Room Y242a
email:
lasse.leskela(at)aalto.fi
ORCID: 0000-0001-8411-8329 | ResearcherID: 0-8920-2019
YouTube channel
Docent, University of Jyväskylä, 2011
DSc, Helsinki University of Technology, 2005
MSc, Helsinki University of Technology, 1999

Research interests

My research area is stochastics, the mathematical theory of random events, systems, and processes. The main focus is statistical network models and random graphs, together with random dynamical systems and stochastic processes acting on networks. The general objective is to derive fundamental mathematical laws for predicting the macroscopic behavior of large random systems and describing the accuracy of statistical learning algorithms for large network models. Such laws allow to make predictions using massive high-dimensional data sets for which classical methods of statistics and machine learning are often infeasible. Statistical network models under study include random intersection graphs, stochastic block models, and graphons. The archetypes of stochastic dynamics studied are branching processes, random walks, and first passage percolation. The formulas and methods have a wide range of applications ranging from information and social networks to biological and financial systems.

Short bio

I received the MSc and DSc degrees from Helsinki University of Technology, Finland, in 1999 and 2005, respectively. During 2006–2007 I worked abroad for two years, first at Columbia University in the USA and then at Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) and Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. After returning to Finland in 2008, I worked for three years at Aalto University and then three more at the University of Jyväskylä, before returning to Aalto University in 2014.

Research projects and networks