About the CISPA-Stanford Center for Cybersecurity

Structure of the Program

The program starts with a preparatory postdoc phase at CISPA of 1-2 years (Phase P). This phase is followed by a two-year research stay at Stanford University as a Visiting Assistant Professor (Phase I). The program is concluded by taking the lead of a research group at CISPA for up to three years (Phase II).

Organizational Structure of the CISPA-Stanford Center

The organizational structure of the center is depicted in the following diagram. The mentioned bodies are further explained in the following sections.

Directorate of the Center

At CISPA the Center is directed by Professor Michael Backes, Director of the CISPA – Helmholtz Center for Information Security. At Stanford, the Center is directed by Professor John Mitchell, Professor of Computer Science and currently vice provost of Stanford.

Michael Backes

Michael Backes is the founding director and CEO of the CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security. In his research, Prof. Backes focuses primarily on trustworthy methods for machine learning, on novel approaches for protecting personal data, and on universal solutions for software and system security.

His research has earned him internationally renowned scientific awards and honors, in particular the ERC Synergy Grant, which is Europe's most highly endowed EU group research award, the Karl Heinz Beckurts Prize, an ERC Starting Grant, the Caspar Bowden Privacy Award, the IEEE and ACM Fellowship, as well as various Career Awards and Best Paper Awards.

John Mitchell

John C. Mitchell is professor of computer science and (by courtesy) electrical engineer at Stanford University. He has published in the area of programming language theory and computer security.

He is the Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning at Stanford University, the Mary and Gordon Crary Family Professor in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, co-director of the Stanford Computer Security Lab, and Professor (by courtesy) of Education. He is a member of the steering committee for Stanford University’s Cyber Initiative.