The University of Tartu (UT) is the biggest and oldest centre of academic life in Estonia, with over 4,500 employees and more than 15,000 students, including around 1,600 international students and over 1,140 doctoral candidates. The unique intellectual atmosphere and fine living and working environment in Tartu have attracted prominent scientists and experts for almost 400 years. One of UT’s main tasks is to support the development of a science-based society through strong research, high-quality higher education, and collaboration with companies and the public sector.

UT is the leading university in the Baltics in Information Technology and is among the top 400 universities worldwide. It is among the top 1% most cited research institutions globally in 15 fields, with over 80 researchers ranked among the world’s top 1% most cited. Since 2019, UT researchers have received 15 ERC grants, including three at the Institute of Computer Science. UT researchers publish over 2,000 high-level papers annually, around 10% of which come from the Institute.

The Institute of Computer Science has two security groups. The cryptography group (https://crypto.cs.ut.ee/) is led by Professor Helger Lipmaa and does research in zero-knowledge and zk-SNARKs, post-quantum cryptography, symmetric cryptography, and multi-party computation, with papers in Crypto, Eurocrypt, Asiacrypt, TCC, PKC, and some in ACM CCS. The information security group (https://infosec.cs.ut.ee/) is led by Professor Raimundas Matulevičius and works on security risk management, model-driven security, security & privacy by design, forensic-ready systems, blockchain-enabled applications, and data privacy, with papers in CAiSE, Computers & Security, and BISE.

The University is now seeking to appoint a Professor of Cybersecurity at the Institute of Computer Science. The group is expected to collaborate with the two existing groups while addressing the cybersecurity gap, primarily understood as sustained presence in the “big four” conferences (ACM CCS, USENIX Security, IEEE S&P, NDSS). Research areas may include systems/software security; network and web security; hardware/side-channel security; applied cryptography & privacy; formal methods & program analysis; secure ML/AI safety; blockchain/web3 security; mobile/IoT/cyber-physical/ICS security; human-centred security; security economics & measurements. Having around five papers in the “big four” is a soft requirement.

The successful candidate will have a track record of research excellence in Cybersecurity, experience in obtaining research funding, leadership potential to build a larger research group, and the ability to contribute to Estonia’s practical cybersecurity needs.

Key Responsibilities

1. Lead and coordinate research and teaching in Cybersecurity and related areas.
2. Secure national and international research funding and build a sustainable research group.
3. Develop and deliver a strategic research agenda aligned with national and EU priorities.
4. Build partnerships with industry, government, and international academic institutions.
5. Supervise Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral students, and mentor early‑career researchers.
6. Contribute to curriculum development and teaching excellence across relevant courses.
7. Disseminate research outcomes and raise awareness on cybersecurity research and its impact.
8. Participate in academic leadership and decision‑making within the Institute and University.

Person Specification

1. The candidate must meet the application requirements for a professor position described in Job Descriptions of Academic Staff (Annex 1, column 1. Application and promotion requirements) which can be downloaded here.
2. PhD in Cybersecurity, Computer Science, or a related field.
3. Excellent record of internationally recognised research in cybersecurity on high-level security conferences (NDSS, Usenix, S&P, ACM CCS).
4. Demonstrated success in attracting competitive research funding and leading projects.
5. Strong teaching and supervision experience at the bachelor, master and PhD levels.
6. Established industry and institutional collaborations.
7. Demonstrated leadership and contribution to the academic community.
8. Fluency in English; Estonian is an advantage but not required.

Employment terms

This is a full-time position based in Estonia. Dependent on qualifications and experience, the starting package starts from:

1. Gross salary €80,000 per annum.
2. Seed funding to start a research group of €60,000.
3. All the benefits the University of Tartu offers to its employees (full list here).

How to Apply

An executive search exercise is being undertaken by Perrett Laver to assist the recruitment committee at the University of Tartu. For informal enquiries about the role, and for initial feedback from Tartu ahead of a formal application, please contact Lucy Roper on Lucy.Roper@perrettlaver.com.

Formal applications will be submitted via the University of Tartu’s website here. Please do not submit applications through the “Apply Now” button below. The closing date for formal applications is 09.00 GMT on Monday, 15th December 2025.

Applications should consist of:

1. Cover letter addressed to the Rector
2. CV
3. List of research publications
4. A 1,500-word document outlining your aims to be achieved during the term in the position, and the outline of an action plan for achieving these
5. A copy of a document (including its annexes) which shows the candidate holds the required qualification. A candidate can be required to submit the original. If the candidate has acquired higher education in the question abroad, they may be required to submit an assessment issued by the Academic Recognition Information Centre (the Estonian ENIC/NARIC) of their qualification in respect of the qualification requirements for the position
6. Other materials considered relevant by the candidate (a list of such materials must be included in the application or annexed to it)

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