PhD in Hardware Architectures and Post-Quantum Protocols for Secure Communications in Advanced Space Systems University of Pisa in Italy

PhD positions are open in the National Doctoral Program in Space Science and Technology, within the Earth and the Sun-Earth system curriculum.

The advertised project is titled Hardware Architectures and Post-Quantum Protocols for Secure Communications and Operations in Advanced Space Systems and is hosted at the University of Pisa (operational site). The research is centered on computer science, electrical engineering, and physics, with a strong emphasis on secure and dependable space computing.

Research topics include quantum-ready cybersecurity for space systems, post-quantum primitives, hardware acceleration, root of trust, accelerators, attestation mechanisms, Space Cloud and Space Edge architectures, and secure communications for exploration missions to the Moon and Mars. The project also addresses radiation effects and fault robustness in space environments, including SEUs/SETs/SELs, and integrates security-and-dependability co-design.

Methodological work may involve threat and fault modeling, HW/SW co-design, RTL and micro-architectural design, firmware and middleware development, functional and security verification, fuzzing, fault-injection and SEU emulation, side-channel and robustness analysis, and experimental benchmarking of performance, energy, reliability, and fault sensitivity.

The deadline to apply is 2026-07-20. Interested candidates should review the official call and application instructions via the provided link. Informal inquiries can be directed to Luca Fanucci at [email protected].