On 14 August 2025, the H.C. Ørsted Selskabet marked the birthday of the renowned Danish scientist Hans Christian Ørsted with its annual prize ceremony in Rudkøbing, Langeland. Among this year’s distinguished recipients was Luisa Siniscalchi, formerly Assistant Professor and since 1 June Associate Professor in the Cybersecurity Engineering (CSE) section at DTU Compute.
The award recognizes Luisa Siniscalchi’s outstanding contributions to cryptography, especially in the area of cryptographic protocols. These include systems that allow several people or computers to work together to solve a problem - without ever revealing their private information to one another.
In today’s digital world, where secure collaboration is essential, this kind of cryptography is becoming increasingly important.
“A huge thank to my section (CSE) for the nomination and to my wonderful colleagues for their constant support and encouragement. I already felt honoured to be nominated. Receiving the prize makes me feel truly grateful and deeply touched,” said Luisa Siniscalchi.
Balancing security and efficiency in cryptography
Luisa Siniscalchi’s research explores how we can design cryptographic protocols that are both highly secure and efficient to use.
In the world of cryptography, there is often a trade-off: the more secure a system is, the more resources it tends to require - such as time, computing power, or communication between parties. Her work focuses on understanding and optimizing this balance.
“In recent years, Luisa’s work has been among the most prominent in the area of efficient cryptographic protocols and has been driving progress of the community's understanding of this important research field. This type of research plays an increasingly fundamental role in our more and more digitalized society,” said Nicola Dragoni, Professor, Head of CSE Section, and Deputy Director at DTU Compute.
Remarkable teaching and mentoring efforts
Despite her young academic age, Luisa Siniscalchi features an outstanding list of international collaborations as well as speeches at international conferences around the world.
In 2018, she was awarded the Best Italian PhD Thesis in Theoretical Computer Science by the Italian Chapter of the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science (EATCS), for her thesis entitled “Delayed-input and non-malleable cryptographic protocols”.
Alongside her research, Luisa Siniscalchi’s teaching and mentoring efforts are remarkable, reflecting a dedicated focus on student engagement and training future researchers.
“Luisa Siniscalchi engages students with clarity and enthusiasm, fostering the next generation of researchers. Her international collaborations and speaking engagements further underscore her standing in the global academic community. A huge congratulations on being awarded the H.C. Ørsted Research Talent Award. This is truly a significant and well-deserved recognition,” said Jan Madsen, Head of Department at DTU Compute.
Luisa Siniscalchi joined DTU Compute in October 2022.
