About the Project
A fully funded PhD opportunity to participate in the world-leading research undertaken by the EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award at the University of Sheffield.
Supervised by Dr Mahshid Delavar and Dr Prosanta Gope.
The University of Sheffield is one of the leading Russell Group universities in the UK. We carry out cutting-edge research with strong links to industry. When you enrol to do a PhD with us, you will be working with world-leading academics and have access to top of the range facilities. As a PhD student you will have the opportunity to gain skills not only to conduct research, but also to take your career to the next level, whether you want to stay in academia, go into industry or the public sector, or set up your own company. You will have access to a range of training and support services to help you excel in your studies and beyond.
Project Description
Every day, people use small security devices—such as bank authentication tokens, car key fobs, or hardware keys like YubiKeys—to prove who they are and keep their data safe. These devices, called hardware tokens, store secret information in a way that is meant to be very difficult to copy. But as attackers become more sophisticated, and as quantum computers are developed, today’s tokens may no longer provide strong enough protection.
This project will explore how quantum physics—the science that governs atoms, light, and the smallest particles—can be used to build a new generation of hardware tokens that are far more secure. The key idea is to use the natural unpredictability of quantum processes to create “quantum fingerprints” that cannot be cloned or forged, even by powerful attackers. These quantum fingerprints, also called quantum physical unclonable functions (qPUFs), can be measured but never perfectly copied.
The PhD student will design and test quantum-enhanced hardware tokens. They will develop mathematical models to prove that these devices can provide strong guarantees for authentication (proving identity), secure commitments (locking in a choice without revealing it), and privacy-preserving protocols such as zero-knowledge proofs. Alongside the theory, the student will work with simple optical or solid-state quantum systems to create small experimental prototypes that demonstrate these ideas in practice.
This research is exciting because it lies at the intersection of three fast-moving areas:
- Cybersecurity, which urgently needs new tools to resist both current and future attacks.
- Quantum technology, which is beginning to move from the lab into real-world applications.
- Hardware design, which aims to make security lightweight, inexpensive, and accessible.
The project is also timely. Governments and companies are investing heavily in “post-quantum cryptography” to prepare for the day when quantum computers can break today’s encryption. But cryptographic software alone is not enough; trusted physical devices will remain essential. By combining hardware and quantum physics, this project will push beyond incremental improvements and create a new class of security tokens that are physically unclonable by design.
For the student, this is an excellent opportunity to train in an interdisciplinary environment. They will gain skills in cryptography, quantum information, and hardware prototyping. They will also engage with potential applications in areas such as digital identity, blockchain, and secure communication. The knowledge gained could one day influence how millions of people securely log into their accounts, protect their devices, or verify transactions.
In short, this project will develop quantum-enhanced hardware tokens—a promising new technology that could define the future of secure digital identity.
How to apply
Interested candidates are strongly encouraged to contact the project supervisors to discuss your interest in and suitability for the project prior to submitting your application.
Please refer to the EPSRC DLA webpage for detailed information about the EPSRC DLA and how to apply.
Applicants must ensure that they use the correct application form linked to the EPSRC DLA webpage and must submit an application for October 2027 entry. The form is unique to the EPSRC DLA. It contains the list of advertised projects from which to select, and three questions specific to the DLA.
The application deadline is 17:00 GMT 13 January 2027.
The majority of our DLA studentships will be allocated to candidates who qualify for Home fee status, in accordance with EPSRC funding regulations which place strict limits on international recruitment.
Funding Notes
The award will fund the full tuition fee and a maintenance stipend at the UKRI rate (currently £21,805 per annum) for 3.5 years, as well as a research grant to support costs associated with the project.
