Training

Program requirements

Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows enrolled in the CryptoWorks21 program are expected to fulfill the following requirements:

  • Demonstrate novice understanding in each professional and technical skill area
  • Demonstrate advanced understanding in at least one professional and technical skill area
  • Interact with industry and interdisciplinary mentors by attending the Industry Day event, and meeting with an industry mentor

Graduate students are allowed 3 years to fulfill these requirements. Postdoctoral fellows are allowed 2 years to fulfill these requirements.

Professional skills

  • Novice level
    • Standards and certification
    • Intellectual property protection and management
    • Commercialization and entrepreneurship
    • Management
    • Communications
  • Advanced level
    • Integration of professional skills

professional skills

Professional skills training

Participants in the CryptoWorks21 program are expected to fulfill the following requirements for professional skills:

  • Demonstrate novice understanding in each professional skill area
  • Demonstrate advanced understanding in at least one professional skill area

Novice level

Standards and certification

Learning outcome: Develop an understanding of standards, their relevance and importance for deployability, competitiveness, large-scale adoption, the standards and compliance organizations, and compliance development.

Delivery mechanism: Standards and Certification Workshop, offered in spring term in odd years.

Next offering: TBD

Intellectual property protection and management

Learning outcome: Demonstrate an understanding of IP, its importance, main strategies, protection and management possibilities.

Delivery mechanism: BE 606 Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Students may enrol any semester in which BE 606 is offered

Commercialization and entrepreneurship

Learning outcome: Demonstrate an understanding of how to take innovations to commercial applications.

Delivery mechanism: BE 606 Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Students may enrol any semester in which BE 606 is offered

Management

Learning outcome: Demonstrate an understanding of the different methods and paradigms for managing people, projects, scope, time, and risk.

Delivery mechanism: BE 600 Management and Leadership

Students may enrol any semester in which BE 606 is offered

Communications

Learning outcome: Demonstrate an understanding of the art of communication, such as communicating science to non-specialists, communicating a business plan, interpersonal and team communication.

Delivery mechanism: BE 600 Management and Leadership

Students may enrol any semester in which BE 606 is offered

Advanced level

Integration of professional skills

Learning outcome: Identify and apply core concepts in entrepreneurship to a new venture or to their academic research.

Delivery mechanism: Advanced Lean Canvas and Entrepreneurship Workshop, offered in spring term.

Pre-requisite: Completion of BE 606.

Next offering: TBD

Technical skills

  • Novice level
    • Fundamentals of cryptography
    • Information and network security
    • Post-quantum cryptography
    • Quantum cryptography tools
    • Quantum communication devices
  • Advanced level
    • Novel research in any of the five technical skill areas

Technical skills

Participants in the CryptoWorks21 program are expected to fulfill the following requirements for technical skills:

  • Demonstrate novice understanding in each technical skill area
  • Demonstrate advanced understanding in at least one technical skill area

Most novice technical skill areas can be fulfilled either by taking a CryptoWorks21 module, completing a standard course, or attending an appropriate winter/summer school as indicated below.

Novice level

Information and network security

Learning outcome: Demonstrate an understanding of how cryptography tools are used to achieve information security.

Delivery mechanism: CryptoWorks21 module on "Fundamentals of network security", or completion of either CS 658 or ECE 628.

2025 offering: not offered.

Fundamentals of cryptography

Learning outcome: Demonstrate an understanding of core cryptography tools.

Delivery mechanism: CryptoWorks21 module on "Fundamentals of cryptography", or completion of either CO 685 or CO 687, or part of QKD summer school, or the SAC Summer School.

2025 offering: not offered.

Post-quantum cryptography

Learning outcome: Demonstrate an understanding of which classical cryptography tools are believed to be quantum-resistant.

Delivery mechanism: CryptoWorks21 module on "Post-quantum cryptography" or specialized topics modules.

2025 offering: Workshop on FrodoKEM on July 30.

Quantum cryptography tools

Learning outcome: Demonstrate an understanding of new cryptographic primitives that can be achieved with quantum information and their advantages.

Delivery mechanism: CryptoWorks21 modules on "Quantum cryptography tools" part 1 and 2, or completion of either QIC 890 topic 2 (fulfills part 1 only) or QKD summer school (fulfills part 1 only)

2025 offering: 2-part workshop on June 13 and June 20.

Quantum communication devices

Learning outcome: Demonstrate an understanding of the technological requirements and state-of-the-art implementation and deployment of quantum cryptography systems and the required components.

Delivery mechanism: CryptoWorks21 modules on "Quantum communication devices", or completion of either QIC 890 topic 2, QIC 890 topic 3, or QKD summer school.

2025 offering: not offered.

Quantum cryptanalysis

Learning outcome: Demonstrate an understanding of how quantum computers can be applied to break classical cryptosystems..

Delivery mechanism: CryptoWorks21 module on "Quantum cryptanalysis".

2025 offering: 2-part workshop on July 7 and July 9.

Advanced level

Advanced research

Learning outcome: Advanced understanding of research in any of the five technical skill areas.

Delivery mechanism: Completion of a research thesis. (Postdocs will have already completed this.)

Tutorials

Quantum computing for cryptography students

Learning outcome: Demonstrate a basic understanding of quantum computing and its application to cryptography.

Delivery mechanism: Workshop on "Quantum computing for cryptography students".

2025 offering: not offered.

Note that this topic does not count towards completion of the CryptoWorks21 program, and is made available for your interest.

Quantum key distribution

Learning outcome: Demonstrate a basic understanding of quantum key distribution

Delivery mechanism: Workshop on "A gentle introduction to quantum key distribution".

2025 offering: July 22.

Note that this topic does not count towards completion of the CryptoWorks21 program, and is made available for your interest.

Schedule

  • The IP Lunch & Learn Series is offered annually during the fall and winter terms
  • Workshops for the professional and technical skill areas are offered annual in the spring term.

List of previous training opportunities.

Mentorship program

CryptoWorks21 participants have the opportunity to be paired with a mentor from industry or government. Please contact the Director for more information.