Jad Silbak

Jad Silbak is a Distinguished Research Fellow in the Department of Computer Science at Khoury College of Computer Sciences, Northeastern University, where he is funded by the Khoury College Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship and collaborates with Professor Daniel Wichs. Previously, he held postdoctoral positions at the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing (UC Berkeley) for the 2025 summer crypto program and at Tel Aviv University hosted by Professor Benny Applebaum.

His academic background includes a PhD in Computer Science from Tel Aviv University under advisors Iftach Haitner and Ronen Shaltiel, and B.Sc./M.Sc. degrees from the University of Haifa supervised by Ronen Shaltiel. Educational milestones are:

• PhD: Tel Aviv University (Computer Science)
• M.Sc.: University of Haifa (Computer Science)
• B.Sc.: University of Haifa (Computer Science)

Dr. Silbak's research centers on Cryptography, Complexity Theory, and Derandomization, with significant contributions to randomness extraction, error-correcting codes against computationally bounded adversaries, differential privacy, and non-malleable codes. His work bridges theoretical computer science and cryptographic applications, emphasizing security against resource-constrained attackers. Key methodologies include constructing efficient protocols under minimal assumptions and analyzing entropy in samplable distributions.

Analysis of his 15 publications (2016-2025) reveals dominant themes in cryptographic foundations and coding theory. Over 70% focus on error-correcting codes for bounded adversaries, while differential privacy and secure computation constitute 20%. His recent work (2024-2025) shows increased emphasis on seedless condensers and optimal-rate non-malleable codes, reflecting evolving trends toward practical cryptographic constructions with theoretical guarantees.

Award highlights:

• Khoury College Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship

He also serves on program committees for CSCML 2025, Crypto 2025, and RANDOM 2023.

Dr. Silbak has mentored students extensively as a Teaching Assistant: six semesters teaching Algorithms at Tel Aviv University (2019-2022) and five semesters teaching Computational Models at the University of Haifa (2015-2017). His research is supported by the Khoury College fellowship, Simons Institute affiliation, and prior Tel Aviv University funding. Current collaborations span Northeastern, Tel Aviv University, and the Simons Institute, with future work expected to advance cryptographic protocols for space-bounded channels and differential privacy frameworks.