Cryptography PhD by Day — What Inspires Rohit’s Research #phd #stanford #ballroomdance

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]So, I've always been keen to try research. As an undergrad at UCLA, I learned about a graduate course in cryptography, and I was really drawn to the beautiful blend of mathematics, complexity, algorithm design. It was It was such a joy to take. Admittedly, a lot of things went over my head. It was a pretty difficult class. I mean, I was taking a graduate class as a sophomore.

[00:00:18]And I was really nervous to take it, too. But, I was encouraged to take it, and I learned so much. Coming out of that class, I wanted to take even more math classes, and you know, one thing led to another, and I ended up wanting to do [music] a PhD in cryptography. Um Stanford, in particular, has been extremely welcoming and supportive. The computer science theory department has some of the most passionate [music] and smartest people in the field. It's been such a joy interacting with everyone, and I couldn't ask for a better place to do research.