Information Security Doctor of Philosophy - PhD

The Information Security Group (ISG) is a world-leading interdisciplinary research group dedicated to research and education in the area of information (cyber) security.

The ISG comprises more than fifteen full-time academic faculty members, including a mix of computer scientists, mathematicians and social scientists. They are supported by visiting academics, research assistants and a large number of research students, making the ISG one of the largest academic information security teams in the world.

We also host an EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security for the Everyday, which funds a four-year PhD programme (first year of taught training followed by three years of research).

The ISG has supervised over 200 PhD students, many now holding influential positions in the cyber security industry. The ISG was formed in 1990 with the intent of providing an academic institution which understood and collaborated with government and industry in the area of information security. Today the ISG continues to attract some of the best minds in the world working in the field of cyber security, helping to shape the National Cyber Security Strategy and develop the talent and services of tomorrow.

Royal Holloway is recognised as a UK Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research (ACE-CSR). Our breadth of coverage, coupled with our size, distinguished educational and academic track record, and long-standing and deep engagement with industry, makes the ISG a unique research group in the UK. The research tradition of the ISG was validated in an ESPRC review of mathematical sciences in the UK which stated that 'UK researchers remain world leaders in information security (Royal Holloway)'.

From time to time, we make changes to our courses to improve the student and learning experience. If we make a significant change to your chosen course, we’ll let you know as soon as possible.

The ISG has more than 15 permanent research-active members of academic staff, a number of distinguished visiting professors and consultants, as well with as a large group of postdoctoral research assistants and a large PhD research student community supported by the CDT in Cybersecurity for the everyday. This exciting research environment is enhanced by a range of research seminars and working groups.

We also boast exceptional research facilities. We have our own dedicated research centre, the Smart Card and IoT Security Centre. This centre was founded in 2002 as a world-wide centre of excellence for training and research into security issues associated with smart cards, tokens and mobile devices. Topics studied with the group now include Radio Frequency ID (RFID), Near Field Communication (NFC), mobile devices and general embedded/ implementation system security. As research activity also focuses on devices with relatively limited processing and memory resources but with direct network connectivity – the Internet of Things (IoT) – the group’s name changed to “The Smart Card and Internet of Things Security Centre” in December 2015.

The Systems Security Research Lab (S2 Lab) was founded in September 2014. The research carried out in the lab focuses on devising novel techniques to protect systems from a broad range of threats, including those perpetrated by malicious software. In particular, we aim at building practical tools and provide security services to the community at large. Our research, kindly sponsored by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPRSRC), the European Council Framework Programme 7 (EU FP7) and Intel Security (McAfee Labs UK), crosses the boundaries of a number of different Computer Science related topics, such as operating systems, computer architecture, program analysis and machine learning, making our challenging journey always exciting.