Nikolas Melissaris

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Hey. How are you doing? I'm Nikolas. I come from Papagou, a small suburb outside of Athens, Greece. Nice of you to stop by. I like mathematics, especially the kind that can be applied to computer science. I am a CNRS postdoctoral researcher at IRIF, Université Paris Cité, hosted by Geoffroy Couteau. I'm fascinated by all science but my main research interests lie generally in the areas of cryptography and the theory of computation. Usually I like to think about problems in multiparty computation, foundations of cryptography, and privacy preserving techniques in machine learning.

I spent three wonderful PhD years with the Crypto Group at Aarhus University where I was lucky to be advised by Peter Scholl and Claudio Orlandi. In my PhD thesis I studied ways to make multiparty computation better and more efficient.

In the summer of 2023 I was an intern at JP Morgan AI Research working with Antigoni Polychroniadou and Daniel Escudero. In the spring of 2024 I visited Geoffroy Couteau at IRIF, Université Paris Cité.

In the past, I graduated with a BSc and MSc in Applied Mathematics from the School of Applied Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the National Technical University of Athens, and got my MSc in Information Technology from Rutgers University. In between my degrees I taught several courses at various CUNY schools.

I've worked at Icehole Games, the Computer Security Lab at UCSB, Columbia University, MadHive, and Capital Fund Management. I've taught about discrete mathematics, computer applications, databases, and web programming,

I believe that privacy is a fundamental human right, not a luxury. In a world where surveillance is increasingly the norm, cryptography gives us the power to protect our thoughts, our conversations, and our autonomy. But privacy extends beyond the individual. It underpins the foundations of free speech, dissent, and democracy itself. Without the ability to think, speak, and organize without fear of scrutiny, democracy withers into mere performance. Cryptography is not just a tool for secrecy; it is a safeguard for freedom.

As a firm believer in open science and the free exchange of knowledge, I try to make my research publicly available, usually at the Cryptology ePrint Archive. If you are unable to access one of my papers, please feel free to email me, and I will be happy to share a copy.

I love science, adventures, and satire. I dislike intolerance, ignorance, and authoritarianism. I try to be an adequate basketball player 🏀, punk rock listener 🤘, and stay away from skateboard related injuries ☠️.

My better half, Kelsey, also does cryptography.

News:

• [July '25] - Our paper "Structured-Seed Pseudorandom Generators and their Applications" was accepted to RANDOM 2025 🎉