The Cryptography and Privacy Engineering Group (ENCRYPTO) at the Department of Computer Science of the Technical University of Darmstadt offers a position as postdoctoral researcher for doing cutting edge research in applied cryptography and in particular secure computation. The full position is to be filled as soon as possible and initially for two years.
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 bring theoretical results into practice by combining methods from cryptography with algorithm engineering. Our focus is on developing optimized cryptographic protocols, tools, and open-source software prototypes that efficiently protect sensitive data and functions in various applications. See encrypto.de/topics for further information.
We offer an open, international working atmosphere and a strong team spirit, with the aim of enabling excellent research. TU Darmstadt is a top research university for IT security and cryptography and for computer science in Europe.
What this job is about
You will be working primarily in research within the ERC Consolidator Grant “Tools for Protecting Data and Function Privacy (PRIVTOOLS)”. In PRIVTOOLS, we develop composable protocols, optimizations, and tools to protect data and functions in applications. For this, we use and combine Multi-Party Computation (MPC), Private Function Evaluation (PFE), and Private Set Operations (PSO) such as Private Set Intersection (PSI) and Private Set Union (PSU).
As a postdoctoral researcher at ENCRYPTO, your tasks are project management, close collaboration with doctoral researchers and student assistants, research on design, optimization, implementation and evaluation of efficient cryptographic protocols and tools for their automatic generation, and publishing the results at top international venues in applied cryptography / IT security.
You will also actively contribute to the teaching activities of the ENCRYPTO group, in particular the integrated course “Cryptographic Protocols” and supervising thesis students.
Requirements
You have:
- Completed a PhD at a research-oriented university in applied cryptography / IT security or the PhD must have been completed by the start date of employment
- Completed a University Science Degree (Master or equivalent, Bachelor for fast-track PhD) in IT security, computer science, or a similar field with excellent grades
- Several publications in top venues for applied cryptography / IT security (e.g., S&P, CCS, NDSS, USENIX Security, EUROCRYPT, CRYPTO) with CORE ranking A*/A, ideally on cryptographic protocols / secure computation are necessary
- Experience in software development, project management, and supervising students is required
Excellent English skills are required, as the working language of the ENCRYPTO research group is English and you will be discussing, writing, and presenting scientific results in English. Knowledge of German is not required.
The following are advantageous:
- Already experience in cryptographic protocols such as Multi-Party Computation (MPC), Private Function Evaluation (PFE), and/or Private Set Operations (PSO) like Private Set Intersection (PSI) and Private Set Union (PSU)
- Knowledge in compiler construction and/or hardware synthesis
Personally, you are characterized by:
- A high degree of self-motivation, reliability, diligence, creativity, and the ability to work independently
- Interest in excellent research on challenging scientific problems with practical relevance
- Interest in academic teaching and working together with people
Languages: English
Level: Excellent
Additional Information
Start Date: as soon as possible.
Application deadline: initially November 8, 2026 (later applications will be accepted until the position has been filled)
How to Apply: See the official job announcement for the full job description, required documents, and how to officially apply via the web system (applications via email are not accepted).
Work Location
TU Darmstadt
Pankratiusstr. 2
64289 Darmstadt
Germany
Contact
Website: https://encrypto.de
E-Mail: application@encrypto.cs.tu-darmstadt.de