UNC Chapel Hill Cryptography Group

Courses

We teach a variety of courses on topics in cryptography as well as related topics like privacy. See below for a list of classes.

Note that courses with COMP 590 and 790 numbers are temporary "special topics" course numbers, so the same number may be used for multiple classes in the department. Make sure you sign up for the correct section.

• COMP 537: Cryptography
  This course will introduce you to both the applied and theoretical sides of cryptography. Our main focus will be on the inner workings of cryptographic primitives and how to use them correctly. We will begin with standard cryptographic tools such as encryption, message authentication, key exchange, and digital signatures before moving on to more advanced topics like elliptic curves, post-quantum cryptography, and zero-knowledge. Throughout the course we will also explore the techniques used in modern cryptography to reason about the security of cryptographic schemes.
  Fall 2025 course link
• COMP 590: Privacy Enhancing Technologies
  This undergraduate-level summer class covers a combination of fundamental tools and recent developments in privacy-enhancing technologies. The first half of the course covers cryptographic tools that can be used to build privacy-preserving systems, and the second half covers various privacy-enhancing technologies, including both research contributions and deployed systems. Along the way we discuss how to think about the technology we create and its impact on society.
  Summer 2025 course link
• COMP 790: Topics in Applied Cryptography
  This graduate seminar class covers advanced topics in applied cryptography. Building on the foundations in the undergraduate course, students explore the design of advanced cryptographic tools and their use (and mis-use) in industry. Emphasis is placed on reading and drawing insights from the research literature. Topics rotate based on instructor preference, recent research developments, and current events.
  Fall 2025 course link