Open Doctoral Researcher Position

The Cryptography and Privacy Engineering Group (ENCRYPTO) at the Department of Computer Science of the Technical University of Darmstadt offers a position as doctoral researcher (PhD) in Cryptography and Privacy Engineering for doing cutting-edge research in applied cryptography/secure multi-party computation. The full position is to be filled as soon as possible and initially for 3 years with the possibility of extension.

What we do

The mission of the ENCRYPTO group is to demonstrate that privacy can be efficiently protected in real-world applications. For this, we bridge the gap between theory and practice by employing cryptographic techniques and algorithm engineering. Our focus is on the development of novel and optimized cryptographic protocols, tools, and open-source software prototypes that efficiently protect sensitive date in diverse applications. Please refer to https://encrypto.de/topics for further information.

You will initially be working within the collaborative research center CROSSING funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). In our project E4 Compiler for Privacy-Preserving Protocols, we build compilers to automatically generate optimized secure multi-party computation protocols for privacy-preserving applications. See https://encrypto.de/CROSSING for more details. Moreover, you are also free to explore other privacy research directions of interest to the ENCRYPTO group such as privacy-preserving machine learning, privacy attacks and defenses, or work on orthogonal privacy-enhancing techniques such as differential privacy or homomorphic encryption.

What you do

As a doctoral researcher at ENCRYPTO, you will primarily focus on your research, which encompasses the design as well as theoretical and experimental evaluation of efficient and practical cryptographic protocols and tools including prototype implementations. The results of your work will be published and presented by you at top conferences and journals. You will also be involved in our teaching activities and supervise thesis students as well as student assistants.

Why ENCRYPTO

We provide an open and international working environment for excellent research in a sociable team. TU Darmstadt is ranked as a top research university for IT security and cryptography in Europe and computer science in Germany. The position is based in the “City of Science” Darmstadt, which is very international and livable, and well-connected in the Rhine-Main area around Frankfurt. Knowledge of the German language is beneficial but not required, and TU Darmstadt offers a Welcome Center and language courses.

We work in a flexible hybrid working mode in presence in new offices and also mobile, depending on individual preferences and collaboration setups. TU Darmstadt offers a free job ticket for public transport (Landesticket Hessen) in the whole state of Hesse.

Your Profile

• Completed Master’s degree (or equivalent) at a top university with excellent grades in IT security, computer science, or a similar field.
• Extensive knowledge in applied cryptography/IT security and very good software development skills are required.
• Additional knowledge in cryptographic protocols/secure multi-party computation is very beneficial.
• Experience and interest to engage in teaching.

We require that you are self-motivated, reliable, diligent, creative, and can work independently. We expect that you want to do excellent research on challenging scientific problems with practical relevance. As the working language at ENCRYPTO is English, you must be able to discuss, write, and present scientific results in English. Knowledge of the German language is beneficial but not required for this position.

The opportunity for further qualification (doctoral dissertation) is given. The fulfillment of the duties likewise enables the scientific qualifications of the candidate.

How to Apply

Your application must consist of a single PDF containing a letter of motivation that states why you are interested and qualify for this particular position, your current curriculum vitae, certificates (M.Sc., B.Sc., and high-school diploma) with detailed transcripts of records and grades, and two letters of recommendation (or names who can write them).

Please send your complete application with subject “Application PhD: YOUR NAME” to application@encrypto.cs.tu-…. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Schneider. Applications will be accepted until the position has been filled.

Start date: As soon as possible

Application deadline: April 8, 2024

TU Darmstadt intends to increase the number of female employees and encourages female candidates to apply. In case of equal qualifications applicants with a degree of disability of at least 50% or equal will be given preference. Wages and salaries are according to the collective agreements on salary scales, which apply to the TU Darmstadt (100% E13 TV-TU Darmstadt).