International Association
for Cryptologic Research

We offer a 3-year fully funded Ph.D. position starting fall 2022 at University of Rouen Normandie within the LITIS lab (https://www.litislab.fr/en/) with a focus on the design and cryptanalysis of code-based and multivariate cryptographic primitives. The goal is to focus more precisely on algebraic cryptanalysis which consists in building a system of multivariate equations such that the solution set contains (part of) the secret of a cryptographic primitive. Furthermore, the algebraic modeling of several problems, such as the MinRank problem or the Rank Decoding problem, have recently witnessed important progress in their analysis. The Ph.D. candidate will pursue the analysis of various algebraic modeling on code-based or multivariate schemes (e.g. Classic McEliece, GeMSS, Rainbow, DURANDAL, MQDSS, etc).

The candidate is expected to have a strong background in mathematics, computer algebra, in particular in polynomial system solving (e.g. Gröbner basis algorithms), and cryptography. She/he must have a Master degree or equivalent related to these areas.

Funding for attending international conferences, summer schools, and visiting other research centers will also be provided.

To apply, send the following documents to Magali Bardet (magali.bardet@univ-rouen.fr) and Ayoub Otmani (ayoub.otmani@univ-rouen.fr):

• Motivation letter
• CV
• Transcripts of marks
• Up to 3 reference letters

Applications will be considered until the position is filled but a first screening of candidates will take place by May 25, 2022. Interested applicants are therefore encouraged to send their documents before that date.

Keywords. Post-quantum cryptography, code-based cryptography, multivariate cryptography, MinRank problem, algebraic cryptanalysis, Gröbner basis.

Closing date for applications:

Contact:

• Magali Bardet (magali.bardet@univ-rouen.fr)
• Ayoub Otmani (ayoub.otmani@univ-rouen.fr)

More information: https://www.litislab.fr/en/