About

About Me

My name is Mingrui Zou. This blog is my corner of the internet where I dump thoughts, half-baked ideas, and the occasional “aha!” moment. Expect a mix of cryptography, quantum computing, and whatever else I trip over that seems worth writing down. Think of it as notes-to-self that I happened to leave unlocked — if you find them useful, great; if not, at least you now know how scattered my interests are.

🔑 My PGP Fingerprint
E149 B1A3 F402 5B79 77EC F94D B29A F9E5 93DF 06E7
📥 Download Public Key

Research Interests

My research interests span both cryptography and quantum computing, with a particular focus on secure multiparty computation (MPC) and post-quantum cryptography. If you share similar interests or just want to chat, feel free to reach out to me via email.

Education

University of Amsterdam
09/2025 - nowPhD

The University of Edinburgh
09/2023 - 08/2024Master of Science in Cybersecurity, Privacy and Trust

The University of Edinburgh
09/2018 - 07/2023Bachelor of Science with Honours in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science

📄 My MSc Dissertation on Multiparty Computation Combiners
If you are interested, you may read the full dissertation here.

MISC

Rubik’s Cube

🧩 Rubik’s Cube Journey
When I was young, I felt quite proud of myself when I managed to restore one face of a Rubik’s Cube. Later, I discovered a guide that came with the cube, teaching how to solve all six faces. I still remember the sense of accomplishment when I first solved it completely. In an algebra course, my friend and I took this interest further by creating a Jupyter notebook to explore the cube’s group structure. Check it out here.

Gaming

🎮 My Steam Profile
I’m more of a casual gamer, but if you’d like to connect, feel free to reach out to me on my Steam profile.

League of Legends
Diamond 2
Dota 2
3600 MMR

🎮 Fun Fact
Some people assume my gaming ID, Wangbard, means my family name is Wang. Actually, Bard is my favorite champion in League of Legends, and Wang means “king” in Chinese—so Wangbard playfully implies “King of Bard.” League used to be my favorite game, and I have spent thousands of hours on it. These days, I only play very occasionally with friends, but it still holds a special place in my memories.