PhD Position in Formal Methods for Concurrent Cryptographic Protocols

This vacancy is for a PhD Position in Formal Methods for Concurrent Cryptographic Protocols at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU).

The goal of this project is to use formal methods to develop a systematic way to describe concurrent cryptographic protocols and to reason about their security.

Your function

You will carry out research towards developing formal reasoning principles for concurrent cryptographic protocols and participate in the dissemination of results (conferences, research visits, etc.). In addition, you will perform light supervision duties for bachelor and/or master students and support our courses as teaching assistants (maximum two periods a year).

Your profile

• A master’s degree in computer science, mathematics, or a related subject.
• Experience with functional programming (e.g., Haskell) or proof assistants (e.g. Rocq, Agda, Lean).
• Good communication skills in English
• Optional: experience with cryptography, security or concurrent programming

We realise that each individual brings a unique set of skills, expertise and mindset. Therefore we are happy to invite anyone who recognises themselves in the profile to apply, even if you do not meet all the requirements.

What do we offer?

• a salary of € 3.059,00 (scale 85-0) gross per month in the first year, increasing to € 3.881,00 (scale 85-3) in the fourth year, on a full-time basis. This is based on UFO profile PhD candidate.
• an employment contract of initially 18 months. If there is sufficient perspective, this will be extended to a total of 4 years. Your dissertation at the end of the fourth year forms the end of your employment contract.
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
• solid pension scheme (ABP)
• optional model for designing a personalized benefits package
• contribution to commuting expenses

About us

Department of Computer Science

The Department of Computer Science at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is an internationally recognised centre of excellence, advancing the full spectrum of Computer Science in both research and education. It comprises approximately 230 staff members and is organised around strongly connected themes: AI & Data, Systems & Infrastructure, Software, Security & Privacy and Theory of Computation.