| Overview | Organization | Projects | Schedule | Chat | Material |
Master Praktikum: Cryptography (SoSe 2026)
Rather than asking whether it is possible to break the code, one should ask whether it is feasible to break it.
Overview
The Master Praktikum in Cryptography explores the relationship between randomness and computation and is based on three interconnected domains, modern cryptography, probabilistic proofs, and pseudorandomness. Participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of foundational principles and methodologies of cryptography and have the opportunity to engage in the development of cryptographic projects, using the concepts discussed in the lecture.
ECTS: 6
Organization
2+2 hours per week
Lecture: Lydia Kondylidou
Tutorial: Tanguy Bozec
The course is divided into lectures and hands-on projects. Lectures take place every Thursday. Tutorials take place every Monday; on alternating Mondays, the upcoming project will be introduced together with all necessary materials and guidelines.
Students work in groups of a maximum of three. Each group has two weeks to complete a project. The course comprises five small projects and one final project that builds on the previous ones — six projects in total.
Assessment is based on the quality and completion of all six projects.
Participation is limited to 30 master students.
Projects
| # | Topic | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cipher — Warm-up | Implement basic cryptographic schemes |
| 2 | Signal — Secure Communication | Communicate securely in secret |
| 3 | Auth — Secure Authentication | Authenticate yourself securely |
| 4 | Vote — Zero-Knowledge Proofs | Use ZKPs to implement a secure voting scheme |
| 5 | PIR — Fully Homomorphic Encryption | A form of post-quantum cryptography |
| 6 | Final Project | Builds on all previous projects |
Schedule
Tutorial: Monday 16:00 - 18:00 c.t. (13.04.2026-13.07.2026) Oettingenstr. 67 - 027, Floor Plan
Lecture: Thursday 14:00 - 16:00 c.t. (16.04.2026-16.07.2026) Oettingenstr. 67 - 027, Floor Plan
Material
Additional recommended reading
- N. Alon and J.H. Spencer: The Probabilistic Method. John Wiley Sons, Inc., 1992.
- O. Goldreich, Computational Complexity: A Conceptual Perspective, Cambridge University Press, 2008.
- R. Motwani and P. Raghavan: Randomized Algorithms. Cambridge University Press, 1995.
- R. Shaltiel: Recent Developments in Explicit Constructions of Extractors. In Current Trends in Theoretical Computer Science: The Challenge of the New Century, Vol 1: Algorithms and Complexity, World scietific, 2004. (Editors: G. Paun, G. Rozenberg and A. Salomaa.) Preliminary version in Bulletin of the EATCS 77, pages 67--95, 2002.