Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
The Landscape of Exact Round Complexity in Secure Multi-Party Computation
STCS Seminar
Speaker:
Arpita Patra (IISC Bangalore)
Organiser:
Vinod M. Prabhakaran
Date:
Friday, 16 Jan 2026, 11:00 to 12:00
Venue:
A-201 (STCS Seminar Room)
(Scan to add to calendar)
Abstract:
Secure Multi-Party Computation (MPC) is a central problem in cryptography, often regarded as its holy grail. It enables a group of mutually distrusting data owners to jointly compute a function over their private inputs, while revealing nothing beyond what is inherently implied by the output itself.
Round complexity is one of the most fundamental efficiency measures in MPC, capturing the minimal interaction required for secure computation. In this talk, I will present a high-level overview of the evolution of research on round complexity in MPC and place my own contributions within this evolving landscape.
Short Bio:
Arpita Patra is currently a Professor of Computer Science at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). Her research interests lie in cryptography, with a specific focus on both the theoretical foundations and practical applications of secure multiparty computation protocols. She earned her Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and subsequently held postdoctoral positions at leading institutions including the University of Bristol (UK), ETH Zurich (Switzerland), and Aarhus University (Denmark).
Her contributions have been recognized through numerous honors, including: Prof. S. K. Chatterjee Award for Outstanding Woman Researcher/Industry Leader by IISc (2023); Google Privacy Research Faculty Award (2023); J.P. Morgan Chase Faculty Award (2022); SONY Faculty Innovation Award (2021); Google Research Award (2020); NASI Young Scientist Platinum Jubilee Award (2018); SERB Women Excellence Award (2016); INAE Young Engineer Award (2016). She is also affiliated with esteemed scientific bodies including the Indian Academy of Sciences (IAS), the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). In addition to her research, she has coauthored two academic textbooks:
Secure Multiparty Computation against Passive Adversaries (Springer, 2023)
Fault Tolerant Distributed Consensus in Synchronous Networks (Springer, 2025)
| Speaker: | Arpita Patra (IISC Bangalore) |
| Organiser: | Vinod M. Prabhakaran |
| Date: | Friday, 16 Jan 2026, 11:00 to 12:00 |
| Venue: | A-201 (STCS Seminar Room) |
(Scan to add to calendar)
Short Bio:
Arpita Patra is currently a Professor of Computer Science at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). Her research interests lie in cryptography, with a specific focus on both the theoretical foundations and practical applications of secure multiparty computation protocols. She earned her Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and subsequently held postdoctoral positions at leading institutions including the University of Bristol (UK), ETH Zurich (Switzerland), and Aarhus University (Denmark).
Her contributions have been recognized through numerous honors, including: Prof. S. K. Chatterjee Award for Outstanding Woman Researcher/Industry Leader by IISc (2023); Google Privacy Research Faculty Award (2023); J.P. Morgan Chase Faculty Award (2022); SONY Faculty Innovation Award (2021); Google Research Award (2020); NASI Young Scientist Platinum Jubilee Award (2018); SERB Women Excellence Award (2016); INAE Young Engineer Award (2016). She is also affiliated with esteemed scientific bodies including the Indian Academy of Sciences (IAS), the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). In addition to her research, she has coauthored two academic textbooks:
Secure Multiparty Computation against Passive Adversaries (Springer, 2023)
Fault Tolerant Distributed Consensus in Synchronous Networks (Springer, 2025)