The tenure track program at CISPA is designed to provide long-term career prospects for excellent researchers. Those who successfully complete the program are awarded a permanent position, becoming tenured Faculty. Over the years, both Dr. Giancarlo Pellegrino and Dr. Yang Zhang have built excellent research teams, established numerous collaborations, and received various grants for their groundbreaking research.
Dr. Giancarlo Pellegrino’s research
Pellegrino's work is aimed at making the World Wide Web a safer place. At CISPA, his research focusses on Internet security as well as the detection and analysis of vulnerabilities in Web applications. He also examines how machine learning and artificial intelligence can be used to analyze programs. Pellegrino has published his papers at the most prestigious conferences in the field of IT security, such as Usenix Security, ACM CCS and Eurosec. Earlier this year, he was vice program chair at Usenix Security.
"At CISPA, there is this incredibly supportive culture. All tenured Faculty try to help the tenure tracks as much as they can. Working at CISPA is one of the best experiences a tenure track researcher can have. I have been given every imaginable resource to help me achieve my goals. The only thing that matters is yourself: You are put in the best position with the best conditions you can imagine. I don't think that you can get that anywhere else.”
Dr. Yang Zhang’s research
Zhang’s research at CISPA centers on trustworthy machine learning with a special focus on data security and privacy. He also examines how misinformation and unsafe content such as hate memes can be analyzed and measured online. Zhang has published several papers at leading IT security conferences, including CCS, NDSS, Oakland and USENIX Security. His work was awarded the 2019 NDSS distinguished paper award and the 2022 CCS best paper award runner-up.
"For me, the journey has been really enjoyable so far. I am working with many established researchers and brilliant PhD students. Throughout the process, CISPA's tenured Faculty have given me valuable advice whenever I faced challenges. My thanks go also to our science support team and administration for their help. They are supporting me to the best of their ability, ensuring that I can devote almost all of my time to research.”
Tenure track at CISPA
With its tenure track program, CISPA delivers on the promise of offering the best possible career prospects to its researchers. "I really just had to focus on my research to get a tenured position at CISPA. Fortunately, CISPA gives me the freedom to do research on topics that really interest me," Zhang said. Listening to Zhang, one might think the tenure track was a walk in the park. As a career advancement program, however, CISPA’s tenure track takes several years and is quite demanding. Researchers hoping to receive tenured appointments must prove that they can hold their own in international competition. This includes submitting publications to top conferences, mentoring and promoting young scientists, establishing collaborations and attracting third-party funding. Zhang and Pellegrino have ticked all of these boxes.
As tenured Faculty, Zhang hopes to continue working on the topics that excite him. "And I want to contribute even more to the development of the center," he adds. Pellegrino wants to take on new challenges and to recruit new researchers to do so. "Our strength lies in bringing the world's best research talent to Saarbrücken," he tells us. Thus, the two newly tenured Faculty will help to strengthen CISPA's growth strategy and further expand its position as world-leading research center for cybersecurity.
About Dr Giancarlo Pellegrino
Dr Giancarlo Pellegrino joined CISPA in 2015. Like his colleague Zhang, he has progressed through various career stages at CISPA, from post-doc to research group leader to joining as Faculty in October 2019. From 2017 to 2019, he was also a visiting lecturer at Stanford University. Giancarlo received his PhD from Eurecom in Sophia-Antipolis (France) under the supervision of Davide Balzarotti. Until August 2013, he was a research associate in the Security and Trust group at SAP Research Labs. Giancarlo Pellegrino is on Twitter: @tgianko
About Dr Yang Zhang
Dr Yang Zhang joined CISPA a post-doc in early 2017 after working in Jinan/China and Luxembourg. After a short period as a research group leader, he was admitted to the tenure track program in February 2020. He completed his PhD at the University of Luxembourg. Zhang has published over 60 peer-reviewed papers to date. Yang Zhang is on Twitter: @realyangzhang
