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Before Applying

• Read carefully about the basis of our research topics. The current on-going projects are highly related with them.

• Unless you are already specifically qualified, a probation (internship) period is almost mandatory. Therefore, I highly recommend you to get in contact with me with substantial time left (at least a semester) before the application period.

• About the undergraduate participation It is not like a class, where you can just join and go. Of course you will not know everything at first, and I will help you build the expertise – but you should show your potential, how you approach a problem, how you follow through. What you show during this period decides whether you move on to the hands-on projects, which are usually followed by research manuscript submission (some confidential projects may not).

After Acknowledging the Above

Send me an email, including the following:

1. Basic information about yourself : name, student number, expected year of graduation (if you are applying as an intern), previous job & position (if any), and which track you are applying for (intern, MS, Ph.D., MS/Ph.D. combined, or else).
2. A full CV + transcript with rank
3. Your research background that is (really) related to the lab : experience in programming, security research, or anything that may help us understand you.
4. Which topic of security and privacy you hope to work on in the lab : the more specific, the better. As discussed below, you do not need to be an ‘expert’ in the field – motivation matters more.
5. If you are an international applicant : a research proposal, and a short video with your face included (e.g., PPT + Zoom recording) introducing yourself, your research background (publications, if any), your research plan, and your plans about your stay in Korea.

4 Things You Should Consider

1. You do not need to know everything beforehand – but you do need to show something : During the probation period, get to know several topics with me and build up your expertise; that part I will help you with. What I cannot give you is motivation, attitude, and basic instincts in research. Those are yours to show. Prove that you have the potential, and the projects will follow.

2. Being a good hands-on programmer is one thing – being a good researcher is another: You should identify what you truly want between the two. Finding a good research topic and writing papers is a highly different path with working on a programming project.

3. AI is not a panacea, we need to treat it carefully: Relying on AI is a very bad habit. It is full of faults and problems which may induce sensitive issues in various aspects of your life. This is actually very good news for us, as AI safety/security topics are trending for the same reason.

4. Applied Cryptography is not about Math, you don’t need to like MATH – but you should be good programmers: This is a very common but wrong stereotype. Applied cryptography is different with crypto-theories. It’s about using them to make applications secure and private. The cryptographic APIs are codes, just as other open-sourced libraries. I myself was awful at math, and yet, my representative papers in top-tier conferences are about the next-generation cryptography.

For Those Who Have Worries but Do Not Know What to Even Ask

This is mostly for undergraduate students, and honestly, it is the part I mean the most. You may want to talk about things that are not strictly research – what to do to get a good job, agonies about graduation, which field to dig in, whether graduate school is even for you, etc. I know that it may be awkward to initiate the interaction, but please do contact me – I don’t bite, and I will do as much as I can to help you out. To set the expectation right, this is a casual conversation, not a tutoring session or a deep study together. But you only get to know stuff by asking, so ask.