A look back from a former LUMS student Sumair, starting his PhD at CISPA, Germany
As the ReCyP:HER team we are very proud to present Sumair’s description of his academic journey. Sumair contributed to the ReCyP:HER project as a research assistant of our partner LUMS. Through his outstanding performance he quickly got engaged in research collaborations with social scientists from Saarland University and the usable security experts from our associate partner CISPA, Germany. This led to the start of his academic career as a PhD student at CISPA and Saarland University. We are happy to see the fruitful and far-reaching effects of our project and wish Sumair the best for his future life in Germany!
“As an undergraduate student at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), I was advised by Dr. Mobin Javed, who served as the project partner for the ReCyP:HER project at LUMS. Under her guidance, I was onboarded as a Research Assistant for ReCypher, where I gained valuable experience in cybersecurity research. My involvement in this project laid the foundation for my academic pursuits and opened the door to further opportunities in research and collaboration.
One of my most impactful projects involved designing a training intervention to combat scam calls. This project was supervised by Dr. Mobin (LUMS) and Dr. Nida Bajwa from Saarland University, who was the project coordinator of the ReCypher project. This work culminated in a publication at CHI (for the paper click here), the leading international conference for Human-Computer Interaction, which was a significant achievement in my research journey.
I was fortunate enough to continue my research under the mentorship of Dr. Katharina Krombholz, who is an Associate Partner for ReCyP:HER at CISPA (Helmholtz Center for Information Security). I completed a research internship with Dr. Krombholz at CISPA, focusing on a project related to security advice for Pakistani citizens. This internship not only enhanced my research skills but also provided me with the opportunity to experience European culture firsthand.
In the ReCyP:HER, I led multiple interdisciplinary research projects, collaborating with experts across Usable Security & Privacy, Cybersecurity, Computer Science, and Psychology. These collaborations broadened my research horizons and enabled me to make significant contributions to the field. In addition to these academic achievements, I formed many lasting friendships, enriching my personal and professional life. I found the camaraderie and community invaluable to my overall experience.
My work ultimately led to securing a fully funded PhD position at CISPA and Saarland University, where I will continue my research in Computer Science. I am deeply grateful for these opportunities and excited about the future of my research journey.” Sumair Ijaz Hashmi
