Hello Keno, why did you decide to pursue a PhD at CISPA?
There were several factors. The proximity to my home played a role—I’m from Rhineland-Palatinate, so logistically it was quite convenient. But above all, the CISPA’s excellence was decisive. A major reason I applied here was the opportunity to work with Thorsten Holz. The supervisor of my master’s thesis had told me that Thorsten was looking for PhD students, and I actually became the first member of his group at CISPA. In addition, the conditions offered here are very attractive: having a full-time position while doing a PhD—unfortunately, that’s not something you find everywhere.
How did you find out what exactly interests you and which area you wanted to research in?
At first, I kind of stumbled into it. I experimented a bit to see what suited me and what I enjoyed. During my master’s studies, system security emerged as my focus area. It’s fun to “break” programs—though we do this ethically, with the goal of making systems more secure.
What’s special about the research environment at CISPA?
Definitely the atmosphere and diversity. We have very flat hierarchies—you can talk to anyone at any time, from colleagues to Faculty. And we have a great mix: people from all kinds of research fields, but also plenty who specialize in my area. Especially in my field, fuzzing, there are several experts—that creates so many opportunities for exchange and collaboration. At a small department, I’d probably often be on my own. Here, it’s different.
What does your typical workday look like?
It’s very self-structured. I find it helpful to keep regular office hours. I plan my work packages a few days ahead and usually have one main project and one side project. Over time, you develop a structure. I noticed that already during my master’s thesis, and I really need structure to make progress. In our group, we usually discuss project ideas early on in the process, and everyone contributes their thoughts. In other groups, some people tend to work more independently—but ours is more collaborative.
What challenges do you encounter in your PhD life?
There’s definitely some performance pressure. But that depends a lot on your supervisor. Thorsten has a great balance. He challenges me without making me feel pressured. Honestly, most of the pressure comes from within—your own goals, which you don’t always meet.
What motivates you to keep going?
What motivates me most is that we’re working on truly exciting, unsolved problems—with a lot of freedom. That kind of freedom is unthinkable in most industry jobs. And the atmosphere at CISPA is just fantastic.
Which programs or offers at CISPA do you find especially helpful?
When I started here, the structured PhD Training Program we have now didn’t exist yet. I think we’ve developed a lot in that regard. For example, there are now many opportunities for career development, like spending a few months gaining experience in industry or at other research institutions. I also really enjoyed the PhD retreat, which took place for the first time this year. It was so valuable to exchange ideas with other PhD students about research challenges and other issues. The workshop offerings at CISPA are also super helpful. I once took a time management workshop—highly recommend it.
You’re also active with the Helmholtz Juniors. What do you do there?
That’s the PhD student representation within the Helmholtz Association. We advocate for better working conditions: fair pay, better contracts, less psychological pressure. CISPA is already a role model in many ways, but of course, there’s always room for improvement. A big issue for researchers is the uncertainty built into the German academic system. After your PhD, you become a postdoc, but you only get fixed-term contracts, and the clock starts ticking. After six years, you either have to get a professorship or leave for industry. For people with families, that’s extremely tough. But it’s also not an easy fix—permanent contracts alone wouldn’t solve it, since it’s also important to keep the research landscape dynamic and open to new ideas. Since 2021, the #IchBinHanna protest by many researchers has sparked a national debate, and now the Academic Fixed-Term Contract Act is being revised.
Do you want to stay in academia?
I’m still undecided. I love the freedom that comes with research—you don’t get that in industry. But it can also be frustrating when papers get rejected or ideas take a long time to work out. I could also imagine being drawn to working on a tangible product at some point.
What role do equality and diversity play in your work as a PhD representative?
In computer science, women are seriously underrepresented. That starts early—already in college, the proportion of women is far too low. And of course, that creates issues around equality. I haven’t personally witnessed direct discrimination within the community, but as PhD representatives, we make sure to include and amplify the female perspective in our work. To solve the core problem, though, we need to change the societal image of what computer science actually is.
What advice would you give someone who’s thinking about doing a PhD at CISPA?
It really depends on your motivation. Doing it just for the title or better career prospects shouldn’t be the reason. What matters most is a genuine interest in your research topic and a love of learning. If you enjoy tackling new and challenging problems, you’ll be in exactly the right place here.
More insights and stories about the PhD and postdoc phase at CISPA can also be found in our latest CISPA Zine.
