International Association
for Cryptologic Research

If you are thinking of applying for such a fellowship, the Cyber Security group at the University of York would be very happy to talk to you about the possibility of hosting your fellowship with us.

The topic is related to \"Opportunities and risks in the application of machine and deep learning to security screening\". The Government Office for Science offers UK Intelligence Community (IC) Postdoctoral Research Fellowships to outstanding early career science or engineering researchers. These Fellowships are designed to promote unclassified basic research in areas of interest to the intelligence, security and defence communities.

UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowships can be held on a job share basis, if two suitable candidates are available to work on the project. UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowships are for a two-year period with an evaluation after the first year.

Applications are capped at a maximum contribution of £100,000 per year, at 80% of Full Economic Costs.

Applicants have no nationality restrictions. The host institution of the research fellowship will be responsible for securing all necessary work permits and related costs.

The Department of Computer Science at University of York has an established reputation for conducting research that has real impact in a wide range of sectors; in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014, we were ranked 5th for impact, 6th for environment and 7th in the UK overall.

The deadline for proposal submission is April 1, 2019. (Our Centre Website: www.cs.york.ac.uk/security)

Closing date for applications: 10 March 2019

Contact: Interested candidates should contact Professor Delaram Kahrobaei (Chair of Cyber Security at University of York) delaram.kahrobaei (at) york.ac.uk as soon as possible to develop a proposal.

The Institute of Information Security at University of Stuttgart offers several

Ph.D. and Postdoc Positions

in applied cryptography, with a focus on

- Multi-Party Computation,

- Zero-Knowledge Proofs,

- Fully Homomorphic Encryption,

and applications thereof.

The positions are available immediately with an internationally competitive salary, paid according to the German public salary scale TVL-E13 or TVL-E14 (depending on the candidate\'s qualification). Appointment periods follow the German science appointment regulations, ranging from one year to up to six years.

The Institute of Information Security offers a creative international environment for top-level international research in Germany\'s high-tech region.

The successful candidate should have a Master\'s degree or a Ph.D. (or should be very close to completion thereof) in Computer Science, Mathematics, Cyber Security, or a related field. We value excellent analytical and mathematical skills. Knowledge in cryptography, and in particular, one of the mentioned fields, is an asset. Knowledge of German is not required. We can offer positions with and without teaching obligations.

The deadline for applications is

March 24th, 2019.

Late applications will be considered until the positions are filled.

Closing date for applications: 24 March 2019

Contact: Prof. Ralf Kuesters

ralf.kuesters (at) sec.uni-stuttgart.de

https://sec.uni-stuttgart.de

More information: https://sec.uni-stuttgart.de/jobopenings

Applications are invited for a 3 years PhD fellowship/scholarship at Mines Saint-Etienne, CEA-Tech, Centre CMP, Departement SAS, Gardanne France. The position is available from 1 October 2019 or later.

The main objective of this PhD thesis is to design protections to improve the security of SIKE (Supersingular Isogeny Key Encapsulation) implementations against side-channel and fault attacks.

Walks in elliptic curve isogeny graphs can be used to establish a shared secret with a Diffie-Hellman like protocol. SIKE is a key encapsulation suite based on this asymmetric cryptography. It is executed on conventional computer and is thought to be secure against an attack by a quantum computer. NIST has initiated a competitive \"post-quantum\" cryptography standardisation. These algorithms were built to avoid cryptanalysis. But, attackers may explore alternative attack methods that exploit physical access to implementation.

Electromagnetic radiation analysis of deciphering or fault injection are examples of such attacks. There exist protections to hide secrets which are used by implementations of classical cryptography. But, there are only few counter-measures to protect SIKE implementations and the threat of physical attacks against isogeny-based cryptography is not well known, up to now. This thesis will address these two problems.

The PhD student will begin by studying the SIKE protocol and existing implementations. He/She will have to identify existing physical attack propositions and to provide new attack methods. To refine the threat characterisation, he/she will build attack demonstrators based on side-channel analysis and/or fault injection. He/She will propose counter-measures that could be algorithmic, software or hardware methods to protect SIKE implementations.

The SAS \"Secure Architectures and Systems\" research group is located in Gardanne (FRANCE). It is a joint CEA and EMSE team with state-of-art equipment to perform side-channel and fault attacks. PhD student supervisors are Nadia El-Mrabet (EMSE/SAS), Luca De Feo (UVSQ/CRYPTO) and Simon Pontié (CEA/SAS).

Closing date for applications: 25 April 2019

Contact: Simon PONTIE, Simon.PONTIE (at) cea.fr

PhD scholarship on cyber security is available in SUTD. Interested candidates please send your CV with a research statement to Prof. Jianying Zhou. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interview.

Closing date for applications: 30 April 2019

Contact: Prof. Jianying Zhou

jianying_zhou (at) sutd.edu.sg

More information: http://jianying.space/

Applications are invited for a PhD fellowship/scholarship at the Department of Engineering, Aarhus University, Denmark. The position is available from 1 August 2019 or later.

Title: Verifiable cryptographic software

Zero-knowledge proofs are integral for deploying privacy-preserving cryptocurrencies and other blockchain applications, as they represent a fundamental building block for proving statements about confidential data. The most popular framework for such proofs is based on cryptographic pairings defined over elliptic curves, where pairing-based zero-knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge (zk-SNARKs) underlie private transactions.

The PhD candidate will investigate techniques to develop a formally verified efficient software library for pairing-based cryptography, as means to support current blockchain projects relying on zero-knowledge proofs. The PhD candidate will also be involved in other educational activities, such as serving as teaching assistant in courses related to his/her expertise.

The project is a collaboration between researchers from the Departments of Engineering and Computer Science; the DIGIT Centre for Digitalisation, Big Data and Data Analytics; and the recently opened Concordium Blockchain Research Center.

Qualifications:

We are looking for dedicated and enthusiastic applicants, preferably with a Master’s degree in Computer Science/Engineering, Mathematics or related discipline. A theoretical background with cryptography or formal verification will be important for the project. Practical experience with software development and the Coq proof assistant will be seen as a plus. Analytical and critical thinking are naturally essential to pursuing a PhD degree. Further requirements are fluency in English, good reporting/organization skills and being able to work independently.

Closing date for applications: 1 May 2019

Contact: Diego F. Aranha, Assistant Professor, dfaranha (at) eng.au.dk; or Bas Spitters, Associate Professor, spitters (at) cs.au.dk

More information: https://phd.scitech.au.dk/for-applicants/apply-here/may-2019/verifiable-cryptographic-software/

Excellent candidates interested in pursuing a PhD in security/cryptography are invited to apply for this PhD studentship in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Warwick. This scholarship covers full UK/EU fees and a stipend payable at current UK Research Council rates for 3.5 years. Outstanding overseas students are also encouraged to apply, however a gap in the tuition fee will need to be filled. There is no formal closing date for this scholarship as it will be closed when it\'s filled. Therefore, candidates are advised to apply as early as possible.

For informal inquiries, please contact Professor Feng Hao, feng.hao (at) warwick.ac.uk, enclosing a CV and a short description of your relevant background and interests.

The Computer Science Department at Warwick is a leading department in the UK. In the 2014 Research Evaluation Framework (REF) which all UK universities participated in, Warwick computer science was ranked the 1st in terms of research output, 2nd in terms of impact and 2nd overall. It is also highly regarded for its research culture, informal environment, excellent students, and beautiful campus.

Closing date for applications: 1 August 2019

More information: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/dcs/admissions/postgraduateresearch/researchstudentships/?newsItem=8a1785d769003af00169015

The NTNU Applied Cryptology Lab at NTNU has an open PhD position (4 years) in statistical disclosure control. Of particular interest are development of differentially private response mechanisms for distributed data, longitudinal data, and theory around privacy as an only partially renewable resource.

Closing date for applications: 1 May 2019

Contact: Staal A. Vinterbo, Staal.Vinterbo (at) ntnu.no

More information: https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/163521/

We search a candidate who is internationally highly recognized for research on the foundations and methods of software engineering, specifically, the construction and analysis of large-scale software systems with a focus on security and privacy properties. This includes topics like static and dynamic program analysis for programming languages and their ecosystems, test-based quality assurance techniques to identify security vulnerabilities, e.g., test case generation, test optimization, fuzzing, program transformations, e.g., automatic program repair, constructive or interactive approaches to support developers in the engineering of secure systems.

For more details and application portal, see URL below

Closing date for applications: 14 March 2019

Contact: Prof. Dr. Frank Kargl, https://www.uni-ulm.de/in/vs/inst/team/frank-kargl/

More information: https://stellenangebote.uni-ulm.de/jobposting/95503659d66923316e3b202e35ce7405db5365d1

We are looking for highly-skilled, motivated, and driven students for multiple research internships at the HP Inc. Security Lab in Bristol, UK. As an intern you will help us advance the state-of-the-art in system security. We’re looking for people to work on a range of topics: from researching cyber-resilient hardware and software security architectures, designing security for next generation cyber-physical infrastructures, to security analytics, machine learning for security, and emerging 3D printing ecosystems.

Our industrial research lab is a unique environment at the intersection between academic research and real-world innovation in partnership with HP global business units. We provide interns with a unique opportunity to learn about the realities of both worlds, and to contribute research that may eventually impact the HP products and solutions used by millions of people across the globe.

Internships will start between February and July 2019, for a preferred duration of 5-6 months.

We welcome applications from full time students with the relevant skills and experience at Masters and PhD level.

Closing date for applications: 31 March 2019

Contact: Philippa Bayley

Security Lab Operations Manager

philippa.bayley (at) hp.com

More information: https://h30631.www3.hp.com/job/bristol/hp-security-lab-intern/3544/10307305

There is a vacancy for a Ph.D. position in cryptography and data security at the Secure and Reliable Communication group (https://www.uib.no/rg/selmer) in the Department of Informatics, University of Bergen. The position is for a fixed-term period of 3 years with the possibility of a 4th year, consisting of 25 % compulsory work (e.g. teaching responsibilities at the department) distributed across the employment period.

We are particularly interested in applicants who are highly motivated to contribute to cryptographic privacy-enhancing technologies, blockchain technology, lattice/code-based cryptography, and coding theory.

We can offer:

• a good and professionally challenging working environment
• salary at pay grade 51 (Code 1017/Pay range 20, alternative 9) in the state salary scale. This constitutes a gross annual salary of NOK 449 400. Further promotions are made according to the length of service in the position.
• enrolment in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• Good welfare benefits (https://www.uib.no/en/foremployees/30808/welfare)

Closing date for applications: 10 March 2019

Contact: Chunlei Li (chunlei.li (at) uib.no)

More information: https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/165213/phd-position-in-cryptography-and-data-security

Dr. Yang Zhang at CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security is looking for multiple fully-funded Ph.D. students working on machine learning security and privacy and biomedical privacy.

Yang (https://yangzhangalmo.github.io/) is a research group leader at CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security. Previously, he was a postdoc working with Michael Backes at CISPA from January 2017 to December 2018. CISPA located at Saarbruecken, Germany, is the newest member of the Helmholtz Association, the largest scientific organization in Germany fully committed to scientific excellence and to tackling the grand research challenges in their respective fields. CISPA as the first investment of Helmholtz in computer science is one of the top research centers in information security, it is constantly ranked top-3 in the field worldwide, see csrankings.org.

Requirements:

• A bachelor/master degree in Computer Science, Information Security, Mathematics with excellent grades
• Excellent programming skills
• Excellent English
• Good knowledge about machine learning

What we offer:

• Full-time working contract (E13 level salary)
• Excellent research environment
• Strong supervision

To apply, please send your CV to yang.zhang (at) cispa.saarland

Closing date for applications: 1 June 2019

Contact: Yang Zhang, research group leader, yang.zhang (at) cispa.saarland

The Information Security Group at Royal Holloway University of London is seeking to recruit a postdoctoral research assistant (PDRA) to work in the area of cryptography. The position is available for immediate start, for up to 26 months (until 31 March 2021).

The PDRA will work alongside Prof. Carlos Cid, Dr. Martin Albrecht and other cryptographic researchers at Royal Holloway on topics connected to the design and analysis of cryptographic key exchange protocols that support incorporating key material from diverse sources. This post is part of the AQuaSec project, a Innovate UK-funded research project with 17 partners from industry and academia, aiming to develop technologies for quantum-safe communications by integrating post-quantum cryptography with techniques from quantum cryptography.

Applicants for this role should have already completed, or be close to completing, a PhD in a relevant discipline, with an outstanding research track record in cryptography. Experience in cryptographic protocol design is a plus.

Established in 1990, the Information Security Group at Royal Holloway was one of the first dedicated academic groups in the world to conduct research and teaching in information security. The ISG is today a world-leading interdisciplinary research group with 20 full-time members of staff, several postdoctoral research assistants and over 50 PhD students working on a range of subjects in cyber security, in particular cryptography. The post is based in Egham, Surrey where Royal Holloway is situated in a beautiful, leafy campus near to Windsor Great Park and within commuting distance from London.

Closing date for applications: 12 March 2019

Contact: Informal enquiries about this position can be made to Prof. Carlos Cid (carlos.cid AT rhul.ac.uk)

More information: https://jobs.royalholloway.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx?ref=0219-048

The Security and Privacy research division (https://secpriv.tuwien.ac.at) at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) is seeking a candidate for a postdoc position of two years, ideally starting in Spring 2019. The successful applicant will enjoy full research independence and further contribute to the teaching activities in security and privacy at TU Wien.

Candidates with a research background in the following areas are particularly invited to apply:

- Formal methods for security and privacy;

- Intersection between Machine Learning and security and privacy;

- Blockchain technologies;

- Web security.

TU Wien has about 20,000 students and a heavy emphasis on research. The Faculty of Informatics comprises about 3,000 students and is the largest one in Austria. Vienna hosts several outstanding research institutes (including IST Austria, AIT, SBA, RIAT) with a strong focus on security and privacy and a long-standing collaboration track.

The postdoctoral researcher salary is highly competitive and ruled by level B1 of the Austrian Collective Agreement for the university staff, currently amounting to EUR 3.711,10 per/month/gross (14 times a year).

Finally, Vienna has repeatedly been ranked number 1 worldwide in the Mercer Quality of Living Survey.

TU Wien is committed to increasing female employment in leading scientific positions. Female applicants are explicitly encouraged to apply, and preference will be given to female applications when scientifically equally qualified.

Expressions of interest should be submitted by e-mail to christopher.vomastek (at) tuwien.ac.at and include in a single pdf

• A cover letter stating the candidate\'s motivation to apply, and the reason(s) why they should be selected for the position;

• A CV;

• A short research statement;

• Three most significant publications;

• The contact details of two referees.

Expressions of interest submitted by February 25, 2019 will receive full consideration.

Closing date for applications: 25 February 2019

Contact: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Matteo Maffei, matteo.maffei (at) tuwien.ac.at

The group is active both in developing key technologies that ship with IBM products and in maintaining a strong academic research profile and has a dual focus on blockchain and on system security. In particular, the group is part of the core team that designs and develops Hyperledger Fabric, the popular open source blockchain platform.

This is an excellent opportunity for highly qualified and creative candidates with an ambition to work with an international team of researchers in a world-class industrial research organization.

Requirements

Candidates are expected to have the following background and interests

· A Master\'s degree in Computer Science or a closely related discipline

· strong knowledge of programming languages (in particular C/C++, and optionally golang, bash, python)

· strong skills and experience in system-level programming, large distributed systems, and optionally blockchain

· experience with open source projects and a strong understanding of DevOps

· ability to manage multiple and changing priorities

· fluency in English

The position is available immediately. The successful candidate will enjoy an internationally competitive salary and work in a collaborative and creative group in an exclusive research environment.

Diversity

IBM is committed to diversity at the workplace. We offer a diverse, independent professional activity, with experienced colleagues in a friendly atmosphere on our campus.

You will find a dynamic, multi-cultural environment, and flexible work conditions.

How to apply

Please send your CV including contact information for references and Ref No. 2019_001

to:

Judith Blanc

HR Business Partner

IBM Research — Zurich

Säumerstrasse 4

8803 Rüschlikon

Switzerland

email: jko (at) zurich.ibm.com

For technical information, please contact:

Dr. Andreas Kind, Manager Industry Solutions and Blockchain

email:ank (at) zurich.ibm.com.

Closing date for applications: 31 July 2019

More information: https://www.zurich.ibm.com/careers/

Distributed systems and Blockchain

Project description

We research and develop scalable, fault-tolerant and secure distributed and blockchain systems that drive a new generation of financial and digital transactions.

We are looking for highly motivated and enthusiastic software engineers and distributed systems researchers to join the Industry Platforms and Blockchain Group at IBM Research – Zurich. You will be expected to contribute to the architecture definition and implementation in our blockchain projects, notably their aspects pertaining to distributed systems. You will be able to directly contribute and make impact not only on IBM products, but also on the Hyperledger Fabric open source project. The researchers in the group have deep expertise and knowledge in scalable, fault-tolerant and secure distributed systems. Software to be developed will be included in critical production system and is expected to be of high quality, modularity, maintainability, scalability, and resilience.

Closing date for applications: 31 July 2019

Contact: Judith Blanc

HR Business Partner

Säumerstrasse 4

8803 Rüschlikon

Switzerland

jko (at) zurich.ibm.com

More information: https://www.zurich.ibm.com/careers/

DTU Compute’s Section for Cyber Security invites applications for appointment as a postdoctoral researcher within the area of symmetric cryptology. The position is available from 1 May 2019 or according to mutual agreement.

The aim of the new position is to expand the Section’s research in symmetric cryptology and align it with potential novel threats.

The research field of this new Postdoc position is within analysis and design of symmetric cryptographic algorithms, both basic primitives and modes of operation. Correspondingly, we aim to hire a postdoc with a track record in symmetric cryptography and cryptanalysis.

Responsibilities and tasks

The main tasks of the postdoc position are to analyze existing symmetric cryptographic primitives as well as to design and evaluate new primitives to address novel challenges. In this position, you will actively engage in our ongoing and prospective research activities on analysis and design of block ciphers, hash functions, authentication schemes and authentication encryption.

External stays are planned at our research partners in Europe.

Qualifications

Candidates should have a PhD degree (or equivalent) within mathematics, computer science or electric engineering with a focus on cryptology or a closely related field. If you are close to completing your PhD studies, your application will also be considered. You must have contributed with high-quality research to the area of cryptology or a closely related field.

Application procedure

Please submit your online application no later than 1 March 2019 (local time). Apply online at www.career.dtu.dk

Read the full job description at

https://www.dtu.dk/english/about/job-and-career/vacant-positions/job?id=1804831b-d132-4570-b6e6-46324b1a14c7

Closing date for applications: 1 March 2019

Contact: Further information can be obtained from Assoc. Prof. Andrey Bogdanov (anbog (at) dtu.dk). Please do not send applications to this e-mail address.

More information: https://www.dtu.dk/english/about/job-and-career/vacant-positions/job?id=1804831b-d132-4570-b6e6-46324b1a14c7

Applications are invited for PhD studentships in areas such as: (1) Post-quantum cryptography; (2) Physical attacks of IoT devices; (3) Privacy-aware cybercrime tracking; (4) Edge-based solutions to IoT attacks; (5) Activity Recognition in Social Media videos; (5) Defending ML-based Network Security Systems from Adversarial Attacks.

Students will be based in the Centre for Secure Information Technology (CSIT), Queens University Belfast. CSIT is recognised by the UK National Cyber Security Centre as an Academic Centre of Excellence (ACE) in Cyber Security Research. It is also host to the UK Research Institute in Secure Hardware and Embedded Systems (RISE).

ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS:

A minimum 2.1 honours degree or equivalent in Computer Science, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mathematics or closely related discipline is required.

Available to eligible UK and EU citizens only.

Applicants should apply electronically through the Queen’s online application portal at: https://dap.qub.ac.uk/portal/

Closing date for applications: 8 March 2019

Contact: Professor Maire O\'Neill,Email: m.oneill AT ecit.qub.ac.uk

More information: https://www.qub.ac.uk/csit/PhD-in-Cyber-Security-Centre-for-Doctoral-Training/PhDResearchProjects2019/

The work of the Protocol Engineering Groups and Systems R&D team spans all layers of the tech stack for the Ethereum blockchain. Our work covers both public chain and enterprise, including crypto-economics, consensus, networking, storage, cryptography and virtual machine operations. Some of the challenges we have been focusing on include scalability, privacy, permissioning, and robustness — and there are plenty of other areas we’d like to be working on.

The Role

We are seeking applied researchers from a variety of backgrounds who are able to think deeply and creatively about protocol-level blockchain challenges and translate that work into practical outputs for PegaSys, enterprises seeking to use Ethereum and the wider blockchain community.

The Profile We are Seeking

• Computer Science, Mathematics or Physics Master degree. PhD is a bonus.

• Strong familiarity with advanced computer science and mathematical concepts

• Expertise in using formal verification tools especially in the context of analysing distributed systems

• Capable of articulating theories and related proof in a language suitable for scientific publication. Track record of previous scientific publications is a bonus.

• Well versed in analysing existing code in a number of languages including Java, Go, Rust, etc.

• Capable of deep and creative thinking.

• Have a drive for excellence and quality

• Passionate about blockchain consensus protocol research and blockchain technology in general

• Previous experience either in leading small/medium teams or as member of well-functioning self-organising teams

• Willing collaborator: swift to seek support and advice; equally ready to give support and advice to others.

• Comfortable with working remotely, and will make progress without supervision while proactively keeping in contact with other remote collaborators.

Closing date for applications: 31 July 2019

Contact: Roberto Saltini

More information: https://consensys.net/open-roles/1522894/

The Research Group at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, led by Prof. Anupam Chattopadhyay is seeking skilled and motivated PhD candidates to participate in an upcoming project focusing on System-on-Chip (SoC) security. The research team is currently funded by several large and strategic research grants in different domains ranging from microprocessor to system security. Interested applicants are encouraged send their detailed CV, cover letter and two letters of references to Prof. Anupam Chattopadhyay (anupam at ntu.edu.sg).

We are soliciting candidates to have an introductory knowledge in cryptography and strong background in digital/system design, including relevant experience in managing large-scale programming projects in C/C++/VHDL/Verilog. Candidates with prior industrial experience and familiarity with commercial processor architectures are preferred.

Review of applications starts immediately and will continue until the position is filled.

Closing date for applications:

PhD and Post-Doc Positions on Privacy Technologies at UCL

I have funding for 2-3 PhD studentships and 1 post-doctoral positions (24 months) in my group at UCL Computer Science to work on research problems at the intersection of privacy and machine learning.

For an overview of my work in this area, please visithttps://emilianodc.com/privacyML/

FUNDING

These positions are funded by a mix of industry grants, thanks to the generous support of Amazon, Cisco, Microsoft Research, and the UK Government.

UCL DOCTORAL TRAINING CENTRE IN CYBERSECURITY

Moreover, we have recently been awarded funding for a Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) in Cybersecurity (see https://epsrc.ukri.org/newsevents/news/seventy-five-centres-for-doctoral-training-announced-by-ukri-to-develop-the-skills-needed-for-uk-prosperity/) so *additional* positions will be funded through the centre.

Other researchers working on security and privacy at UCL include: Nicolas Courtois, George Danezis, Sarah Meiklejohn, Steven Murdoch, Angela Sasse, plus a couple more faculty that we are in the process of recruiting. The Centre will have a strongly interdisciplinary focus, and will involve colleagues in the Crime Science (e.g., Shane Johnson) and Public Policy (e.g., Madeline Carr).

DATES AND ELIGIBILITY

The PhD students will start in September/October 2019. Alas, some of the funding is limited to people who have lived in the UK for at least 3 years prior to the start of the PhD.

The post-doctoral research should start in the summer and have already completed their PhD or about to.

APPLICATION

For both the PhD and the post-doc positions, please send an email to jobs (at) emilianodc.com if you are interested.
For the PhD positions, you will also have to apply through http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/prospective_students/phd_programme/applying/ (even though the next deadline is April 17th, please apply ASAP).

 

Closing date for applications: 30 April 2019

Contact: Emiliano De Cristofaro, Associate Professor at UCL

jobs (at) emilianodc.com

More information: https://emilianodc.com/positions.html