Research Funding Opportunities

Our research funding opportunities provide a platform for researchers to conduct original research in collaboration with Top10VPN to improve internet security and privacy, as well as digital rights globally.

Funding is dependent on the quality and originality of the proposed research, and the final report will be published on Top10VPN.com.

Below are examples of some of our areas of interest:

Authoritarian Internet Governance

We are interested in submissions from researchers, postgraduate students, and academics looking to conduct original technical research on authoritarian internet governance practices.

Successful candidates will use innovative investigative techniques and uncover original findings that help shed light on some of the most pressing threats currently facing the web.

Potential topics may include uncovering the censorship tools used by the likes of Russia, China or Iran, and the role of middlebox manufacturers, ISPs, and other tech companies in undermining free expression online.

Censorship Circumvention Techniques

We are always looking to support innovative research into popular censorship circumvention technologies, including VPN apps, mesh networks, and Tor. We’re particularly interested in revealing the hidden privacy and security risks of many of the most popular apps to help promote best practices among developers.

Internet Shutdowns

Network interference and internet shutdowns are increasingly used to stifle the free flow of information during politically sensitive moments around the world. They risk exacerbating unstable conditions, frequently obscure human rights abuses, and fuel violence during protests.

We welcome submissions from researchers that will investigate the technology responsible, analysis of internet measurement data, and quantitative work that uncovers their reach and impact. Research may utilize publicly available data, such as OONI, Cloudflare and Kentik, or develop unique ways of measuring censorship and network interference.

We invite candidates to submit a one page concept note containing a brief outline of the proposed research, methodology, and a short author biography.

After reviewing the concept note, we will invite the successful candidate(s) to provide a full project outline, with details on the proposed duration of the research and proof of feasibility. Evidence of engaging with the ethical considerations of the research methodologies will also be required.

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. Once complete, the findings of the research will be published in full on Top10VPN.com.

For any queries, or to submit a concept note, email: research@privacy.co

PrivacyCo, the parent company of Top10VPN.com, has conducted research on a wide range of internet security and digital rights issues, from calculating the cost of internet shutdowns, to monitoring spikes in VPN demand around the world.

Our research has been cited in leading global publications, including the New York Times, BBC, Financial Times, CNN, and WIRED.

Our work has also been cited by the United Nations, in testimonies to the US Senate and Congressional Commissions, as well as by academics at Yale, Harvard and the University of Oxford.