Dakshita Khurana

Associate Professor of Computer Science
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Senior Scientist, NTT Research

Office: 4308 Siebel Center

Dakshita Khurana

I am a theoretical cryptographer working at the intersection of cryptography, quantum computing, and complexity theory. A central theme of my recent work is whether quantum computational advantage can itself serve as a foundation for cryptography. My work develops this connection through one-way puzzles, linking cryptographic hardness to assumptions underlying quantum advantage.

Quanta’s article on our work gives an accessible introduction to this research.

I have a broad interest in cryptography, quantum computing and theoretical computer science; and a broader interest in what these fields can offer to digital safety.

Research overviewPublicationsTalksCVTeachingService

I work with a wonderful group of students and postdocs. Please email me if you’re interested in working with us.

Here is a link to my blog.

Support and Recognition

I am grateful for support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research’s Young Investigator Program, the NSF CAREER program, and the Google Research Scholar program. I am also grateful for recognition through the Grainger College of Engineering’s Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research, IIT Delhi’s Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) Award, and Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in Science.

Selected Publications

See the full publication list and my research overview by area.

  1. Founding Quantum Cryptography on Quantum Advantage (or, Towards Cryptography from #P-Hardness)
    with Kabir Tomer
    (STOC 2025, QIP 2025, Invited to the SICOMP Special Issue for STOC 2025)
  2. Commitments from Quantum One-wayness
    with Kabir Tomer
    (STOC 2024, QIP 2024, Invited tutorial at QIP 2025)
  3. Cryptography with Certified Deletion
    with James Bartusek. 
    (CRYPTO 2023, QIP 2023, Invited tutorial at QCrypt 2023)
  4. One-way Functions imply Secure Computation in a Quantum World
    with James Bartusek, Andrea Coladangelo and Fermi Ma. 
    (CRYPTO 2021. Long Plenary Talk at QIP 2021, Invited Talk at QCrypt 2021, both joint with GLSV)
  5. Weak Zero-Knowledge Beyond the Black-Box Barrier
    with Nir Bitansky and Omer Paneth. 
    (STOC 2019, SICOMP Special Issue for STOC, 2022)
  6. How to Achieve Non-Malleability in One or Two Rounds
    with Amit Sahai. 
    (FOCS 2017, Invited to the SICOMP Special Issue for FOCS 2017)

Selected Media

  1. OpenAI breakthrough triggers ‘existential crisis’ in math
    Science · September 15, 2026 · Quoted
  2. Quantum Scientists Have Built a New Math of Cryptography
    Quanta Magazine · July 25, 2025 · Research feature
  3. Cryptographers Discover a New Foundation for Quantum Secrecy
    Quanta Magazine · June 3, 2024 · Quoted