Organisation/Company: Swansea University
Department: Central Research
Field: Computer science
Researcher Profile: First Stage Researcher (R1)
Positions: PhD Positions
Country: United Kingdom
Application Deadline: 24 Feb 2025 - 11:59 (Europe/London)
Type of Contract: Temporary
Job Status: Full-time
Offer Starting Date: 1 Oct 2025
Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme
Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No
Offer Description
Recently, many councils in Wales started using the single transferable vote (STV) method for counting ballots. While counting plaintext ballots using the STV method is straightforward, a rank-based ballot may leak the voter’s preferences if published publicly in plaintext, as the ranking order can reveal detailed information about the voter’s identity. Therefore, encryption is necessary to hide the ranking. However, the STV method becomes considerably more complex with encrypted ballots. Our goal is to develop an algorithm/protocol to count encrypted ballots using the STV method. Our first point of investigation will be zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive argument of knowledge (ZkSNARK). Subsequently, we will formalise the front-end (R1CS) and back-end (Groth16) of ZkSNARK in the Coq theorem prover and use this formalisation to encode our STV algorithm on encrypted ballots. This approach aims to ensure both the correctness and privacy of the tallying process, paving the way for verifiable and secure election systems that are resistant to coercion.
Requirements
You are not required to be an expert in Coq or Cryptography; familiarity with Coq and Cryptography is fine. However, you should be comfortable with a functional programming language such as Haskell or OCaml.
IELTS 6.5 overall (with at least 6.0 in each individual component) or a Swansea recognised equivalent. Details on the Swansea University English Language entry policy can be found here.
Additional Information
This scholarship covers the full cost of tuition fees and an annual stipend at UKRI rate (currently £19,237 for 2024/25).
Additional research expenses of up to £1,000 per year will also be available.
Scholarship open to UK and international fee eligible applicants.
Eligibility Criteria
Candidates must hold a UK Bachelor degree with a minimum of Upper Second Class honours in Computer Science, Mathematics, or a closely related discipline, or an overseas Bachelor degree deemed equivalent to UK Bachelor (by UK ECCTIS) and achieved a grade equivalent to UK Upper Second Class honours in Computer Science, Mathematics, or a closely related discipline.
Or an appropriate master’s degree with a minimum overall grade at ‘Merit’ (or Non-UK equivalent as defined by Swansea University) – see country specific qualifications.
IELTS 6.5 overall (with at least 6.0 in each individual component) or a Swansea recognised equivalent. Details on the Swansea University English Language entry policy can be found here.
ATAS clearance is NOT required to be held as part of the scholarship application process. Successful award winners (as appropriate) are provided with details as to how to apply for ATAS clearance in tandem with scholarship course offer.
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