Jakob Miller, PhD student
Jakob Miller is employed as a PhD student from 15 October 2025 in the Analysis & Quantum Section and associated with the Quantum for Life Centre.
“Originally from Augsburg, a city in the south of Germany, I have been living in Switzerland for the past six years. There I studied Interdisciplinary Sciences, a combination of Physics and Chemistry, in my Bachelor's and Physics in my Master's, both at ETH Zürich”, explain Jakob.
During his Master's, he worked on randomness extractors, which are classical functions that can be used to transform imperfect sources of randomness into perfect ones. Randomness extractors, for example, are essential to guarantee the security of quantum random number generators or quantum key distribution.
“In my PhD, I wish to continue working in quantum cryptography and to investigate the question, why some extractor constructions that are secure against classical adversaries fail in the presence of adversaries utilising quantum devices, whereas other extractor constructions remain secure in this case. My supervisor will be Matthias Christandl.
“Additional topics that I have worked on previously and would like to learn more about are quantum computing, in particular the different physical platforms on which quantum computers may be realised, as well as what fundamental limits to measure time using quantum systems exist.
“Outside of university, I enjoy visiting art galleries or history museums, going to second-hand shops, working out and taking care of my cacti and succulents,” says Jakob.
You can meet him in Vibenshuset, office V01-4-25.