Research Assistant: A Digital Ethnography of Bodily Exploitation

Location: Stockholm

Type: Research

Term: Semester

Introduction to the topic:

This research course explores the exploitation and commodification of the human body through an interdisciplinary lens, drawing on criminology, bioethics, law, sociology and social policy. Using digital ethnography, students investigate how vulnerable populations are targeted, exploited and commodified across hidden or informal markets.

Project details:

Students are attached to one of three linked sub-studies, assigned based on ongoing project needs and confirmed at the start of the application process at the initial interview:

Illicit organ trade: Investigates the global black market in human organs, examining how trafficking networks exploit vulnerable individuals across borders and the legal and ethical frameworks designed to combat it.
Reproductive mobility: Explores the cross-border movement of individuals accessing reproductive services such as surrogacy, focusing on the experiences of surrogates, intended parents and intermediaries, and the frameworks that govern (or fail to govern) these markets.
Recruitment of minors into criminal networks: Examines how criminal networks recruit young people, analyzing recruitment tactics and communication patterns in publicly accessible digital spaces, alongside the frameworks meant to protect minors from exploitation. This strand involves no direct contact with current minors.

Across all three strands, students engage with key debates on biolegality, bodily commodification and the role of organized actors in facilitating exploitation. They gain hands-on experience with qualitative research methods, digital ethnography and case study analysis, with a strong emphasis on research ethics.

Combining independent and collaborative work, this course equips students with the interdisciplinary and methodological tools to investigate some of today’s most invisible forms of exploitation and to contribute original research alongside faculty mentors.

Syllabus

Coming soon

Selected relevant publications:

– Smiragina-Ingelström, P. (2026). The limits of legal protection for children exploited in criminality. International Review of Victimology. https://doi.org/10.1177/02697580261473312

– The HOTT Project – Organ Trafficking Research

– Smiragina‑Ingelström P. (2024). Reframing the narrative: The processes and outcomes of men’s victimization in human trafficking. Chapter from Interconnecting the Violences of Men: Continuities and Intersections in Research, Policy and Activism (1st ed.). Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003415077

– Tanderup, M., Pande, A., Schmidt, L., et al. (2023). Impact of the War in Ukraine and the COVID-19 Pandemic on Transnational Surrogacy — A Qualitative Study of Danish Infertile Couples’ Experiences of Being in “Exile.” Reproductive BioMedicine Online, 47(4), 103258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rbmo.2023.06.013

Research Assistantship FAQ

Learn more about research at DIS.

: Earning authorship within the course of a semester is challenging. Exceptional Research Assistants may be considered for co-authorship, subject to evaluation from the supervising Research Mentor.

Though you may not ultimately become an author on a published paper, you will gain many practical skills and insights into the publication process.

: Many research projects last across several semesters, so not all RAs on the same project will conduct the same research.

: On average, students in 3-credit Research Assistantships spend at least 10 hours a week on research tasks. These 10 hours per week consist of a variety of different research-related tasks, including conducting a literature review, data collection, analyses, coding, documentation, and meetings with your mentor. You may decide on a particular block of time (consistent each week) for you to carry out the work, or adjust it on a week-by-week basis.

Students in a 6-credit Research Assistantships spend an average of 20 hours per week with lab and clinically based research tasks. You decide the exact meeting and lab times with your supervisor, but your schedule consists of classes at DIS two days a week, with two days a week in the lab.

There may be peak times in the research process where all Research Assistant students are expected to spend a few more hours, and then possibly fewer hours another week – to reflect the individual research project and process.

: Work for the 3-credit Research Assistantships may take place outside DIS, on your own time at a location of your choosing, or at DIS – this varies from project to project. The 6-credit research assistantships generally take place at labs in Copenhagen or Stockholm outside DIS.

: Students with a variety of academic backgrounds are encouraged to apply for the 3-credit Research Assistant course. While some courses do have prerequisites, many opportunities do not require prior research experience.

The 6-credit Research Assistant opportunity is designed for highly motivated students who have a strong science background within the field of interest and some basic research experience. The student must be willing to commit a large portion of their semester to an engaging opportunity involving hands-on research in universities and medical institutes in Copenhagen or Stockholm.