At our department, which conducts research at the highest international level and offers several high-quality educational programs in Computer Science, we are now seeking 1-2 PhD Students with a focus on Cryptography and Cybersecurity.

The Department of Computing Science at Umeå University is an international environment for research and education covering a broad spectrum of computer science. The department is internationally renowned for its excellent research and education. We are affiliated with WASP – Sweden’s largest individual research program of all time, coordinate its sister program WASP-HS, which focuses on the consequences of emerging technologies, and are a strong partner in the national strategic research program eSSENCE. We value diversity and actively work to promote an inclusive work environment with a high level of engagement.
Read more at: Department of Computing Science

Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program (WASP) is Sweden’s largest individual research program ever, a major national initiative for strategically motivated basic research, education and faculty recruitment. The program addresses research on artificial intelligence and autonomous systems acting in collaboration with humans, adapting to their environment through sensors, information and knowledge, and forming intelligent systems-of-systems. The vision of WASP is excellent research and competence in artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and software for the benefit of Swedish society and industry. Read more: https://wasp-sweden.org/

The graduate school within WASP is dedicated to provide the skills needed to analyze, develop, and contribute to the interdisciplinary area of artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and software. Through an ambitious program with research visits, partner universities, and visiting lecturers, the graduate school actively supports forming a strong multi-disciplinary and international professional network between PhD-students, researchers and industry. Read more: https://wasp-sweden.org/graduate-school/

Project description

Project description

The project focuses on the design and analysis of modes of operation for symmetric-key cryptography, including, but not limited to, message authentication codes, pseudorandom functions, encryption schemes, deck functions, hash functions, and hash-based signatures, for applications such as quantum-secure and post-quantum cryptography, and leakage- and tamper-resilient cryptography. It is supervised by Asst. Prof. Mustafa Khairallah. The research is expected to include a mixture of theory and practice. The selected students will be part of the Department of Computing Science at Umeå University, as well as the WASP graduate school.

Possible research directions may be on:

1) the design and analysis of variable-length leakage-resilient encryption schemes, with a focus on stream ciphers and wide-block ciphers (Accordion modes).

2) a theoretical analysis of emerging modes of operation and emerging threat models.

3) studying the security notions, attacks, and proofs for hash-based signatures, with a focus on physical attacks.

Admission requirements

The general admission requirements for doctoral studies are a second-cycle level degree, or completed course requirements of at least 240 ECTS credits, of which at least 60 ECTS credits are at second-cycle level, or have an equivalent education from abroad, or equivalent qualifications.

To be admitted to doctoral studies in the field of computer science, the applicant must have completed courses totaling at least 90 ECTS in computer science or in subjects directly relevant to the specific specialization.

Specific to this position, it is a requirement that you:

• be familiar with the concepts of cryptography.
• provide transcripts with documented coursework in probability theory, programming, and linear algebra.
• be able to read and write mathematical proofs and cryptographic analyses.
• be proficient in academic English.

For directions 1 and 3, it is meritorious if you:

• have experience with hardware implementation, hardware description languages, and/or FPGA implementation.
• have experience with side-channel attacks against cryptosystems.
• are familiar with cryptographic implementation, demonstrated through previous projects on software and/or hardware implementation of cryptographic algorithms (not restricted to symmetric-key algorithms).

For direction 2, it is meritorious if you:

• provide transcripts with documented coursework in algorithms, theory of computing, quantum computing, and discrete mathematics.
• provide published work on the design or analysis of modes of operation (including implementation work).

You are expected to be comfortable in a team environment and open to collaboration with other team members. Familiarity with cryptography can be demonstrated using official coursework transcripts of BSc. and MSc studies or equivalent, a thesis project, or published research papers.

About the position

The position provides you with the opportunity to pursue PhD studies in Computing Science for four years, with the goal of achieving the degree of Doctor in Computing Science. While the position is mainly devoted to PhD studies (at least 80% of the time), it may include up to 20% department service (usually teaching). If so, the total time for the position is extended accordingly, resulting in a maximum of five years.

Wage placement takes place according to the established salary ladder for doctoral student employment. According to the Higher Education Ordinance (Chapter 12, Section 2), the decision on employment cannot be appealed.

The expected starting date is 1 September 2026 or as otherwise agreed.

Application

Applications must be submitted electronically using the e-recruitment system of Umeå University.

A complete application should contain the following documents:

• A cover letter including a description of your research interests, your reasons to apply for the position, and your contact information
• A curriculum vitae Reprints / copies of completed BSc and/or MSc theses and other relevant publications, if any
• Copies of degree certificates, including documentation of completed academic courses and obtained grades
• Contact information of at least two references that are familiar with the candidate through previous work or mentorship
• Documentation and description of other relevant experiences or competences.

The application must be written in English or Swedish. Attached documents must be in pdf format. Applications must be submitted electronically using the e-recruitment system of Umeå University, and be received no later than 2026-05-31.

The Department of Computing Science values gender diversity, and therefore particularly encourages women and those outside the gender binary to apply for the position.

For additional information, please contact Asst. Prof. Mustafa Khairallah (mustafa.khairallah@umu.se)