Are you a high potential young researcher who recently obtained a PhD degree in Quantum Information Science? And are you ready to join QuSoft, a world-leading research center on quantum software in Amsterdam?

This postdoc position is part of the VIDI project 'Cryptography in the Quantum Age'. The successful applicant will join the group of Christian Schaffner. The aim of the project is to develop new quantum-cryptographic protocols (dealing with quantum data and computational assumptions) and explore their limitations. Another aspect is to investigate the security of classical cryptographic schemes against quantum adversaries (post-quantum cryptography).

What are you going to do?

You will be expected to fulfil the following tasks:

• conduct research in quantum cryptography within the scope of the project;
• present and publish research findings together with team members in proceedings and journals, and at international workshops and conferences;
• assist in guiding PhD and MSc students working on topics in quantum cryptography.

While this is primarily a research position, you will have the opportunity to contribute to teaching activities.

What do we require?

You should:

• hold or be about to obtain a PhD degree in computer science, mathematics or physics;
• have a proven track record of excellence in cryptography and/or quantum information, as witnessed by a strong publication list in relevant first-tier conference proceedings or journals;
• in-depth knowledge of one of the following fields is a plus: continuous variables, quantum security notions, delegated quantum computation, post-quantum security;
• have strong passion for research, a drive to publish and the wish to learn new skills through working with or assisting in guiding PhD and MSc students;
• have good communication skills in English, both oral and written.

Fixed-term contract: 1 year.

Starting date: as soon as possible.

Your appointment is full-time (38 hours per week) on a temporary basis for one year. Subsequently an employment contract as a postdoctoral researcher for one year at CWI may be possible, depending on the assessment of your performance and available funding.

Your full-time gross monthly salary is between €2,709 and €4,274 gross per month, depending on your experience (salary scale 10). Your annual salary will be supplemented with 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities applies.

Are you curious about our extensive package of secondary employment benefits like our excellent opportunities for study and development? Take a look at our website.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

The Faculty of Science has a student body of around 6,500, as well as 1,600 members of staff working in education, research or support services. Researchers and students at the Faculty of Science are fascinated by every aspect of how the world works, be it elementary particles, the birth of the universe or the functioning of the brain.

The Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC) is an interdisciplinary research institute that aims at bringing together insights from various fields concerned with information and information processing, such as computational linguistics, computer science, artificial intelligence, logic, philosophy, mathematics, linguistics, cognitive science and music cognition. Its central research area is the study of fundamental principles of encoding, transmission and comprehension of information. It offers an international research environment with world-class faculty in all of its areas of specialization.

Staff members at ILLC as well as the next-door research centre for quantum software QuSoft (Jop Briet, Harry Buhrman, Serge Fehr, Maris Ozols, Stacey Jeffery, Michael Walter, Ronald de Wolf, Christian Schaffner) do research on a variety of topics in quantum information processing including quantum cryptography, quantum algorithms, cryptographic protocols and complexity theory.