PhD Studentship: Designing Isogeny-Based Advanced Protocols

Application deadline: All year round
Research theme: Post-Quantum Cryptography

UK only

This 3.5-year PhD project is fully funded and home students, and EU students with settled status, are eligible to apply. The successful candidate will receive an annual tax-free stipend set at the UKRI rate (£20,780 for 2025/26) and tuition fees will be paid. We expect the stipend to increase each year.

We recommend that you apply early as the advert may be removed before the deadline.

The cryptographic protocols used to secure communications and data are safe under the assumption that problems like integer factorisation and discrete logarithm computation are hard. It is proven that large scale quantum computers, if they were built, would solve these hard problems efficiently, hence rendering today's cryptography obsolete. In Isogeny-Based Cryptography, we design, analyse and implement practical and highly compact schemes that are secure against quantum adversaries.

In Public Key Cryptography, encryption schemes paired with digital signatures provide confidentiality, integrity and authenticity. Nevertheless, the various functionalities offered by information technology services require more advanced protocols such as Zero-Knowledge Proofs, Oblivious Pseudo-random Functions (OPRF), Threshold schemes, Commitment schemes, Verifiable Delay Functions (VDF), Identity Based Encryption (IBE), Multiparty computation, Oblivious Transfer, Blind signatures,... to name only few.

Compared to encryption and signature schemes which are currently being standardised by the NIST and many other national/international standard bodies, these advanced protocols have received much less attention.

The goal of this project is to bridge this gap by designing, analysing and optimising isogeny-based post-quantum advanced protocols.

Applicants are expected to have an MSc degree in Computer Science or Mathematics. Familiarity with Cryptography, Number Theory, Isogenies, Implementation (proof of concept or advanced) of cryptographic protocols will be appreciated, but are not mandatory.

Outstanding candidates with a Bachelor’s degree from a four-year undergraduate program are also encouraged to apply. Paper publication is not mandatory, but a high-quality publication is helpful to strengthen an application, particularly for overseas candidates seeking studentship funding at the University of Manchester.

To apply please contact the supervisors; Dr Bernardo Magri - bernardo.magri@manchester.ac.uk and Dr Takoboris Fouotsa - takoboris.fouotsa@manchester.ac.uk. Please include details of your current level of study, academic background and any relevant experience and include a paragraph about your motivation to study this PhD project.

The supervisor profiles:

https://bernardomagri.eu/
https://borisfouotsa.com/

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