Tianren Liu

Tianren Liu is an Assistant Professor at the Center on Frontiers of Computing Studies (CFCS), Peking University, where he joined in 2022. His research focuses on cryptography and theoretical computer science with particular emphasis on information-theoretic approaches to cryptographic problems.

Dr. Liu received his Bachelor's degree from IIIS Tsinghua University, advised by Prof. John Steinberger, and his Master's and Ph.D. degrees from MIT, where he was advised by Prof. Vinod Vaikuntanathan. Prior to joining Peking University, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington, mentored by Prof. Huijia (Rachel) Lin.

His primary research interests include information-theoretic cryptography (covering problems such as Private Information Retrieval, Conditional Disclosure of Secrets, Private Simultaneous Messages, and secret sharing), secure multi-party computation with information-theoretic security properties, garbled circuits, analysis of practical ciphers from an information-theoretic perspective, and separation results regarding the possibility of basing cryptography on NP-hardness assumptions. His work often bridges theoretical foundations with practical cryptographic applications, favoring protocols with information-theoretic security guarantees.

Dr. Liu's publication record demonstrates consistent contributions to top-tier cryptography venues including CRYPTO, EUROCRYPT, STOC, and TCC. His recent work explores garbled circuits for mixed computation types, statistical properties of cryptographic primitives like SPN block ciphers, and efficient protocols for secure computation. His research shows a trajectory of addressing fundamental questions in cryptographic theory while developing practical techniques that overcome previous limitations in circuit size barriers and security guarantees.

• Best Student Paper award at TCC 2018

Dr. Liu actively mentors graduate students, currently supervising two Ph.D. candidates: Luojian Wei and Liqiang Liu, who began their doctoral studies in 2023. He welcomes motivated students with background in cryptography and theoretical computer science for potential Ph.D. opportunities starting in 2026. He also teaches courses in Cryptography and Discrete Mathematics at Peking University. His office is located in Room 103-2, Jingyuan Courtyard No.5, Peking University.