CASA Stories

Video #1: Yixin Zou

In the first episode of our video series "CASA Stories," Yixin Zou shows us her routines within her daily work. The video follows Yixin as she navigates through Bochum city centre, strolls through the peaceful Botanical Gardens of Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), chatting with her research group and reflecting her commitment to collaborative and diverse approaches in her research.

Yixin Zou is PI at our Cluster of Excellence CASA at Ruhr University Bochum and tenure track faculty member at the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy (MPI-SP). She heads the "Human-Centered Security and Privacy" group there. Her research covers the areas of human-computer interaction, data protection and security. Her focus is on improving the security behaviour of consumers and strengthening the digital security of vulnerable population groups. Within our cluster, her research is located in Research Hub D - "Usability", which examines the special role of users in the context of cyber security.

Video #2: Gregor Leander

In the second episode of the video series "CASA Stories," CASA PI and Professor of Symmetric Cryptography Gregor Leander provides an insight into his daily work life. He takes us on a scenic bike ride along the Ruhr to work, shares glimpses into meetings with his research group, and shows us his favorite spots on the Ruhr University campus.

In the video, Gregor Leander also discusses his personal journey and long-standing connection with Ruhr University: "I was here as a PhD. I was gone for some time and then came back to university and it was like coming home. It wasn’t the same building anymore, things changed but it changed in good ways." He also speaks positively about the work within the Cluster of Excellence: “The spirit, the team atmosphere within the CASA and at RUB in general are very open. It’s made to exchanging ideas, and that results in an atmosphere which is  friendly, open, and diverse and very good to make progress in research.”

Video #3: Karola Marky

In the third episode of our video series "CASA Stories", CASA Principal Investigator and head of the Digital Sovereignty Lab (Faculty of Computer Science) at Ruhr University Bochum, Karola Marky, allows us to take part in her working day.

In the video, Marky reflects on her unconventional journey back to academia. “In 2012, I quit university after my Bachelor's degree and I never ever wanted to see a university from the inside again. Now that obviously changed", she admits. After traveling extensively and spending time abroad, she found her way back to academic life: "For me, it’s actually really crazy because it’s all not that long ago and now I am sitting here as a professor with my own research group, where I can research the ideas that I generate and something that I am really passionate about." Currently, she is working to make the digital world more tangible by leveraging 3D printing technology to create personalized smart objects, which can be used for authentication or managing privacy in smart homes, for instance. 

Video #4: Ghassan Karame

A new episode of the video series “CASA Stories” has been published today. In this edition, CASA PI Ghassan Karame offers insights into his daily work and life routines, reflecting on how the excellent CASA team enriches his research, and how support measures within CASA contribute to a positive environment for him and his family.

“CASA ensured that my daughter has a spot in one of the best bilingual kindergartens in the region. My wife got dual career support and suddenly we were also a family in RUB,” he explains in the video. He concludes: “I think this was one of the best decisions I ever made.”

As well as following him as he works with his own team, the video also highlights his interactions with other XX Principal Investigators - sharing ideas, perspectives and moments of positive team spirit. “I don’t know any single place in Europe where there is an abundance of people that can understand the spectrum of cybersecurity across all layers,” he points out.

Video #5: Yuval Yarom

In the fifth episode of the video series “CASA Stories,” Yuval Yarom, Principal Investigator at CASA and Professor of Computer Security at the Faculty of Computer Science, shares insights into his career journey and daily life as a researcher. Yarom joined Ruhr University Bochum in 2023 after several years at the University of Adelaide and has since become an integral part of the CASA community.

He describes the team culture at CASA as both inspiring and collaborative. CASA, he says, is made up of people who share similar goals but pursue them in their own unique ways — and yet everything fits together seamlessly. Being part of such an environment, he adds, helps everyone grow in ways that would be hard to achieve alone. He appreciates the openness and professionalism of the team: the people are kind, the working conditions excellent, and the collaboration brilliant. His PhD students, he notes with pride, are doing excellent work. “There’s really nothing to complain about. I wake up every morning, excited to got to the office,” he says.

In the video, we also learn how Yarom found his way back from industry to academia and what special methods he has devised for his lectures.