REU Site Program

USF Center for Cryptographic Research

Cryptography and Coding Theory at USF

The Center for Cryptographic Research offers an REU Site program in Cryptography and Coding Theory aimed at students majoring in either Mathematics or Computer Science. Cryptography and coding theory are highly interdisciplinary areas, and mentoring from 7 USF faculty members and 2 postdoctoral fellows from the departments of computer science & engineering and mathematics & statistics will be provided. This interdisciplinary team of mentors will provide participants with a variety of viewpoints required to perform successful research in these areas. Participants will get opportunities for personal development such as a dedicated preparation for graduate school applications. Students will be given the opportunity to present their work in a university-wide REU symposium

Key facts:

Dates: 05/26/2025 to 08/01/2024.
Application deadline: 01/19/2025.
Number of Participants: 10.
Stipend: $700/week plus on-campus housing.
Open to Mathematics and Computer Science majors (preferred qualification: Linear Algebra).
U.S. Citizenship or U.S. Permanent Residency (Green Card) required.
Contact: Jean-Francois Biasse (biasse@usf.edu) and Dmytro Savchuk (savchuk@usf.edu)
Letters of recommendation: to be submitted through ETAP.
Applications open on ETAP on 11/24/2024

Mathematical Cryptography

This REU Site program includes research projects on the mathematics of cryptography. In particular, the participants will have the possibility to learn about modern asymmetric encryption schemes based on Euclidean lattices, isogenies, and error correcting codes. These new types of primitives are the subject of extremely active research at the intersection between theoretical computer science and pure mathematics. The participants will also have the opportunity to explore the connections between pure mathematics and block cipher design through so-called Almost Perfect Nonlinear functions. These are connected to computational Galois theory, which is an exciting area of research in computational algebra.

Hardware Security

The design of cryptosystems needs to account for hardware vulnerabilities. In this REU Site program, participants will get the opportunity to perform research on side channel attacks which are a way to exploit information from physical measurements on the device such as power, heat, noise … They learn the computer engineering skills that allow the design of systems that are not vulnerable to these attacks.

Applied Cryptography

Cryptography is ubiquitous in our daily lives, from banking transactions, cloud services, GSM communications. In this REU Site program, participants will have the opportunity to perform research on practical applications of fundamental cryptographic schemes such as hash functions, private and public key encryptions, and more advanced concepts such as searchable encryption, Oblivious RAM and blockchain protocols.

Coding Theory

Error correcting codes are used to protect communications from information loss during transmission. They are also used in cloud storage to solve the so-called “repair problem”, which is when errors occur in a known location of the data. Typically, when a given server becomes unavailable (due to a crash, maintenance, etc …). The kinds of codes used to solve the repair problem are called “locally recoverable codes”. During this program, the participants will have the opportunity to participate in research on the design of optimal locally recoverable codes. They will leverage deep connection between these objects and computational algebra and Galois theory.

Post Quantum Cryptography

The transition to quantum-safe alternatives has become a major stake in industry, science, and even national security. Indeed, NIST is currently conducting a standardization process of the future generation of cryptographic schemes that will feature quantum-resistance while the NSA has announced its plans to transition to quantum-safe encryption schemes. In this context, knowledge of quantum computing gives our graduate an edge in the industrial landscape of the 21 st century. The participants of this REU Site program will have the opportunity to contribute to research projects pertaining to the design and analysis of new quantum-safe cryptosystems.