CSE 526: Cryptography (Spring 2026)

Location and Time

Lecture: MW 10:00-11:20am, ECE 025
Instructor Office Hours: M 1:00-2:00pm, CSE 538
TA Office Hours: W 3:00–4:00pm, CSE 220

Staff

Instructor: Prof. Nirvan Tyagi (tyagi@cs)

TA: Rutchathon (Champ) Chairattana-apirom (rchairat@cs)

Administration Resources

Ed Discussion Board: Ed will be used for all educational and administrative course communication among staff and students. The discussion board can be used to discuss and ask questions about course material, lectures, and problem sets. Course announcements will be made via Ed, and questions about course logistics and administrative topics can be sent to staff via Ed.
Calendar: The course calendar includes information on lecture topics, readings, and materials, along with problem set due dates. Lecture slides will be posted shortly after lecture (if not before lecture). You may look at slides from a previous quarter to get a sense of upcoming content.
Gradescope: Problem sets will be submitted and grades may be viewed via Gradescope.
Panopto Recordings: Lectures will be recorded and made available via Panopto.

References

This course will not follow a specific textbook. Reading materials will be posted throughout the class. The following are good references that may be referred to throughout the course:

R. Pass and a. shelat. A Course in Cryptography (graduate level, focusing on theory)
M. Rosulek. The Joy of Cryptography (undergraduate level, broader scope)
O. Goldreich. The Foundations of Cryptography (a thorough and formal textbook on foundations.)
J. Katz and Y. Lindell. Introduction to Modern Cryptography (a textbook, graduate level)
D. Boneh and V. Shoup A Graduate Course in Applied Cryptography (a textbook, graduate level)
M. Bellare and P. Rogaway's lecture notes. Introduction to Modern Cryptography (lecture notes for a grad class, focus on practice-oriented provable security)
D. Evans, V. Kolesnikov, and M. Rosulek. A Pragmatic Introduction to Secure Multi-Party Computation (good overview of multi-party computation)

Prerequisites

Students are expected to be ready to understand and write mathematical definitions and proofs. Exposure to basic probability, discrete mathematics, and theory of computing is also expected. (If in doubt, please reach out to the instructor.)