Prabhanjan Ananth

Prabhanjan Ananth is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), holding the Glen and Susanne Culler Endowed Chair in Computer Science. He earned his Ph.D. from UCLA in 2017, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT's CSAIL. His research focuses on cryptography, particularly in classical and post-quantum cryptography, with emphasis on unclonable primitives, pseudorandomness, and cryptographic protocols.

Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science from UCLA (2013–2017), postdoctoral research at MIT (2017–2019).

Research Interests: His work spans theoretical computer science and cryptography, including post-quantum security, quantum-resistant systems, and unclonable cryptographic primitives. He explores topics like pseudorandomness in quantum models, revocable encryption, and cryptographic protocols for multi-user environments.

Recent Publications: His 2025 work advances revocable encryption and pseudorandom unitaries in quantum models. He also contributes to unclonable secret sharing and modular cryptographic design. His research often bridges theoretical foundations with practical applications in quantum-safe systems.

Awards: Glen and Susanne Culler Endowed Chair in Computer Science (UCSB).

Advising: Current Ph.D. advisees include Aditya Gulati, Yao-Ting Lin, and Divyanshu Bhardwaj. Past students have secured roles at institutions like JPMorgan Chase and EPFL.

Teaching: Teaches courses on automata theory (CS 138) and cryptography (CS 178), emphasizing rigorous mathematical proofs and foundational concepts.