This academic year Novosibirsk State University is launching the first English-language Master’s Program in Cryptography at the Department of Mathematics and Mechanics (MMD).
The goal of the Program is to attract strong students from all over the world who are interested in an in-depth study of both the theoretical and practical aspects of modern cryptography. The most promising students will also be involved in research based at NSU.
Cryptology, currently one of the most significant fields of research, responds to the need for a heightened level of protection due to rapidly evolving IT technologies and increasing volumes of information. "Supporting scientific research at the highest level demands highly qualified specialists with a solid foundation in modern cryptographic technologies," said Natalya Tokareva, Program Head and Assistant Professor in the MMD Theoretical Cybernetics Section.
A key aspect of the MA Program will be lecture courses conducted by leading foreign Cryptography experts including:
- Bart Preneel: Professor and Director of the International Association of Cryptographic Research, Head of the COSIC Group computer security and cryptography laboratory at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium). Professor Preneel is widely known for developing a number of international cryptographic standards (AES, SHA-3, etc.);
- Lars Knudsen: Professor, Head of the Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Head of the Cryptanalysis Unit at the Technical University of Denmark, leading cipher developer of ciphers, cryptographic protocols and cipher cryptanalysis methods and Academician at the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences;
- Lilya Budaghyan: Professor at the University of Bergen (Norway) Computer Science Department, Group Leader at the University of Bergen’s Selmer Center and leading specialist in the field of cryptographic Boolean functions;
- Gregor Leander: Professor at Ruhr University Bochum (Germany), leader of a symmetric cryptography scientific group and developer of numerous ciphers and standards;
- Stjepan Picek: Assistant Professor at Delft University of Technology (Netherlands), researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) and specialist in cryptography and cyber security;
- Sugata Gangopadhyay: Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (India) and leading expert in algebra and information theory including quantum information theory;
- Nicky Mouha: Researcher at the Computer Security Division of the Information Technology Laboratory at NIST (USA) and developer of standards for lightweight cryptography.
Future MA Cryptography Program plans include international certification and accreditation and recognition by the world's leading educational and research institutions.
