Last update: January 30, 2022
I have several open positions. I’m looking for talented post-docs, PhD students, master/bachelor theses, and interns. I am interested in the design of end-to-end privacy-friendly systems that solve real-world problems. My research covers three broad areas:
Applied Cryptography I am interested in designing provably-secure cryptographic building blocks that can be used in real-world privacy-friendly systems
System’s building blocks I am interested in designing system’s building blocks, and anonymous communication systems in particular, that satisfy real-world constraints.
Evaluation of (privacy-friendly) systems Finally, I’m interested in evaluating systems. From a technical perspective, I am interested in analyzing whether systems provide the claimed privacy properties. And from a user’s perspective, I’m interested in whether users understand and care about these properties.
If you are enthusiastic about working in any of these areas, please follow the instructions below.
Applications for PhD and Postdoc positions should go through CISPA’s central application system. I evaluate applications on a continuous basis, but applying earlier is obviously better.
If you choose to apply, please mention that you are interested in joining my group in your cover letter. In addition, I’d appreciate it if you could send me a short email telling me that you applied.
CISPA’s PhD (and Postdoc) positions are funded full-time. Instead of me trying to convince you why doing a PhD at CISPA is great, I happily refer you to this great post by Andreas Zeller.
I also have several ideas for Master’s and Bachelor’s theses as well as for research internships. Please reach out to me via email if this interests you. Please include your CV, which position you are applying for, and a short motivation. I promise I will read all emails, but I might not reply to you due to a high volume of emails.
Yes! Together with a broad team of great researchers, I worked on the design and analysis of privacy-friendly contact tracing systems. I designed the cryptographic protocols that formed the bases for all later contact-tracing apps. I also designed the CrowdNotifier protocol that enables privacy-friendly check-in for contact tracing.
I’ve also had the great pleasure to work with the [International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ)[https://www.icij.org/] and researchers at EPFL to help design and deploy a privacy-friendly document search system for investigative journalists.
If you want to know more, please see my publications page.
Excellent English, but no German! CISPA is a fully international research institute. Knowing German is really not necessary, although daily life is a bit smoother if you speak a few words.
Strong background in computer science and knowledge of either applied cryptography or networking / systems.
Programming skills. It helps to have good programming skills in Python and/or a system’s programming language such as Rust.
Excellent question! Choosing a advisor is very important. You should really ask my former students ;). I’d be happy to put you in touch once we’ve had our first meeting.