Team
Dr. Sandra Schmitz-Berndt is a postdoctoral researcher at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) at the University of Luxembourg, where she conducts research in the field of law and technology focussing on cybersecurity law. She is also registered to the German bar since 2015. She holds a LL.M. in Business and Commercial Law with a focus on IT and IP law and a LL.M. in Media and IP Law, which included courses in IT and data protection law. In 2014, she completed a PhD thesis in law at the SnT on online copyright enforcement, comparing selected legislative initiatives of EU Member States. Her thesis also addressed the difficulties to match existing laws to emerging technologies in light of inter alia the technical and legal feasibility of web blocking tools. Subsequently, she held a postdoctoral position in cybercrime law followed by a position in human rights law at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance (FDEF) at the University of Luxembourg. As a practicing lawyer (“Rechtsanwältin”), she is well aware of the demand of businesses for advice on compliance issues.
Maria Paula CONTRERAS received her LL.M from Columbia University (USA), in 2012. Her research interests are in the intersection of human rights and new technologies. Paula joined EnCaViBS in February 2022.
Prof. Dr. Mark D. Cole has been Professor for Media and Telecommunication Law at the University of Luxembourg since January 2015, where he is also Course Director for the Master in General European Law LL.M. programme. Beetween 2007 and 2014, he was Associate Professor of Law (Law of the New Information Technologies, Media and Communications Law) at the same university. In addition, he is a Faculty Member of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) of the University of Luxembourg.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Engel is Professor for Computer Networks and Telecommunications at the University of Luxembourg. From 1987 to 1995 he studied Physics and Computer Science at the University of Saarbruecken, Germany, where he graduated in 1992 and received the title Dr. rer. nat. in 1996. Between 1996 and 2003, as joint founder, he was a member of the board of directors and vice-director of the Fraunhofer-guided Institute for Telematics e.V. in Trier, Germany, co-responsible for the scientific orientation and development of the institute, definition, acquisition and realization of all research projects, which were 70% industry-financed. Since 2002, he has taught and conducted research as a professor at the IST/University of Luxembourg. His SECAN-Lab team deals with performance, privacy and identity handling in Next Generation Networks.
Former team members:
Dr. Stefan Schiffner joined the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) in 2017. Before joining SnT, he was an NIS expert at ENISA (2013-2017), the EU cyber security agency, where he focused on the integration of “by design”-paradigms into the product development cycle, maturity assessments of privacy enhancing technologies, and the implications of data protection technologies and cryptography for the regulatory framework and society. A computer scientist by training (TU Dresden, 2006), Stefan is an advocate for the free use of cryptographic techniques and anonymisation tools as means for individuals to exercise their right to privacy and freedom of speech. His PhD thesis at KU Leuven (2012) focused on models for online privacy, trust and reputation. For his postdoctoral research at CASED/TU Darmstadt, he led a team of researchers on the topics of privacy and trust within the Telecooperation group. Stefan has been a PC member of the annual privacy forum (APF) since its beginnings in 2012, and a member of the chairing team from 2015 to 2016. He is also a reviewer and PC member for several journals and conferences in the field. Stefan left EnCaViBS in 2021.