REU Site: Cryptography and Coding Theory at the University of South Florida

REU 网站：南佛罗里达大学密码学和编码理论

• 批准号: 2244488
• 负责人: Jean-Francois Biasse
• 金额: $ 42.7万
• 依托单位: University of South Florida
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-04-01 至 2026-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2244488&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: REU; Site; Cryptography; Coding; Theory

This Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site award funds a new site focused on cryptography and coding theory at the University of South Florida. Cybersecurity plays a ubiquitous role in our daily lives. Cryptography and coding theory provide the most essential blocks to secure our cyberspace. Cryptography ensures confidentiality, integrity and authenticity of data, while coding theory contributes to the availability of data in case of transmission errors or unavailability of servers. Both areas address critical national security issues. The cybersecurity job market is currently experiencing a shortage of qualified personal, especially in the fields of cryptography and coding theory, which require significant technical training. Meanwhile, cryptography and coding theory are also active areas of research at the interface of computer science, mathematics, and physics. The breadth of skills required to perform successful independent research on these topics makes some of the most promising research angles very challenging to approach for new graduate students. For each of three summers, this REU Site offers 10 undergraduate students the opportunity to perform research for 10 weeks in cryptography and coding theory under the mentorship of an interdisciplinary team of senior personal with expertise in mathematics, quantum computing, applied cryptography and hardware security. Additionally, this REU aims to mitigate the gender gap and the diversity gap in cybersecurity by focusing its recruitment effort on women and under-represented communities. This REU Site focuses on some of the most active and interdisciplinary areas of research in cryptography and coding theory. In particular, students are given the opportunity to explore different angles of post-quantum cryptography, which consists in the design of cryptosystems that will resist attacks from future quantum computers. Research projects available to the students include the design and analysis of cryptosystems based on Euclidean lattices, on error-correcting codes, as well as the technical aspects pertaining to their practical deployment. Students are also given the opportunity to explore the mathematical aspects of block cipher design through projects on Almost Perfect non-Linear (APN) functions, as well as the design of error correcting codes that optimize the redundancy effort to mitigate the impact of the unavailability of servers. This REU Site also offers participants opportunities for personal development such as training in cryptography and coding theory by an interdisciplinary team of senior personnel, and professional workshops on intellectual property and graduate school applications. In addition, participants take part in an REU Site research symposium at the end of the summer that brings together REU Site participants from all disciplines across the University of South Florida. This site is jointly funded by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF Directorate of Computer and Information Science and Engineering and the Division of Mathematical Sciences REU programs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

本科生研究经验(REU)网站奖为南佛罗里达大学一个专注于密码学和编码理论的新网站提供资金。网络安全在我们的日常生活中扮演着无处不在的角色。密码学和编码理论为保护我们的网络空间提供了最基本的障碍。密码学确保数据的机密性、完整性和真实性，而编码理论有助于在传输错误或服务器不可用的情况下提供数据。这两个领域都涉及关键的国家安全问题。网络安全就业市场目前缺乏合格的人才，特别是在密码学和编码理论领域，这些领域需要大量的技术培训。同时，密码学和编码理论也是计算机科学、数学和物理交界的活跃研究领域。在这些主题上进行成功的独立研究所需的技能广度，使得一些最有前途的研究角度对应届研究生来说非常具有挑战性。在每三个夏天，这个REU网站都会为10名本科生提供为期10周的密码学和编码理论研究的机会，在一个由具有数学、量子计算、应用密码学和硬件安全专业知识的高级个人组成的跨学科团队的指导下进行。此外，这一区域联盟旨在通过将招聘工作重点放在妇女和代表性不足的社区来缓解网络安全方面的性别差距和多样性差距。这个REU网站集中了密码学和编码理论中一些最活跃和跨学科的研究领域。特别是，学生们有机会从不同的角度探索后量子密码学，这包括设计能够抵御未来量子计算机攻击的密码系统。学生的研究项目包括基于欧几里得格子的密码系统的设计和分析，纠错码的设计和分析，以及与其实际部署有关的技术方面。学生还有机会通过几乎完全非线性(APN)函数的项目探索分组密码设计的数学方面，以及优化冗余工作以减轻服务器不可用影响的纠错码的设计。REU网站还为参与者提供了个人发展的机会，例如由高级人员组成的跨学科团队提供的密码学和编码理论培训，以及关于知识产权和研究生院应用的专业研讨会。此外，参与者还参加了夏末举行的REU现场研究研讨会，该研讨会汇集了南佛罗里达大学所有学科的REU现场参与者。该网站由国防部与美国国家科学基金会计算机与信息科学与工程部和数学科学部联合资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为是值得支持的。