Eli Ben-Sasson

Eli Ben-Sasson is an Israeli computer scientist and cryptographer noted for work in theoretical computer science, probabilistically checkable proofs, and succinct non-interactive arguments. He has held academic positions at prominent research institutions and contributed to advances linking complexity theory with practical cryptographic protocols. Ben-Sasson’s research intersects with developments at institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, and collaborations with researchers from University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, and Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.

Early life and education

Born in Jerusalem, Ben-Sasson pursued undergraduate and graduate studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and later at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During his doctoral training he worked with advisors connected to the Boston area research community including Shafi Goldwasser and Silvio Micali, engaging with scholars from MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Harvard University, and Princeton University. His formative years involved participation in seminars with faculty from Weizmann Institute of Science, exchanges with researchers from Tel Aviv University, and attendance at workshops associated with International Cryptology Conference venues such as CRYPTO and STOC.

Academic career

Ben-Sasson’s appointments have included faculty roles and visiting positions at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and collaborations with groups at Princeton University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. He has supervised doctoral students who later joined faculties at University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, and Columbia University. His teaching and mentoring linked him to conferences including FOCS, STOC, EUROCRYPT, and ICALP, and to research networks that included scholars from Microsoft Research, IBM Research, Google Research, and Amazon Science.

Research contributions and inventions

Ben-Sasson contributed to foundational work on probabilistically checkable proofs and connections to hardness of approximation results like those built on the PCP theorem and results related to the Unique Games Conjecture. His collaborations advanced constructs for succinct non-interactive arguments and frameworks used in practical zero-knowledge proofs implemented by teams at Zcash, Ethereum Foundation, and startups in the blockchain ecosystem. He coauthored influential papers on error-correcting codes and low-degree testing related to work by scholars at Cornell University, University of Chicago, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His technical contributions relate to theoretical models developed alongside researchers from Yale University, University of Toronto, University of Cambridge, and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.

Ben-Sasson’s inventions include algorithmic techniques used in interactive oracle proof systems and succinct argument systems that influenced engineering efforts at StarkWare, ZCash Company, and research groups at Consensys. He participated in workshops with contributors from Princeton University, Caltech, New York University, and Brown University to bridge theoretical constructions with implementations in cryptocurrency projects and privacy-preserving systems. His work intersects with complexity lower bounds studied at Rutgers University and coding-theory advances pursued at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Awards and honors

Ben-Sasson has been recognized by peer communities via invited talks at conferences including STOC, FOCS, CRYPTO, and RSA Conference. He received grants and fellowships from funding bodies associated with Israel Science Foundation, collaborative programs involving European Research Council, and industrial fellowships linked to Microsoft Research and Google Research. His contributions have been cited in award announcements related to colleagues at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, and Stanford University and acknowledged in program committees for ICALP and SODA.

Selected publications

- Ben-Sasson, E.; coauthors. Papers on probabilistically checkable proofs and the PCP theorem presented at STOC and FOCS conferences. - Ben-Sasson, E.; coauthors. Works on low-degree testing and error-correcting codes appearing in proceedings of FOCS and journals associated with SIAM. - Ben-Sasson, E.; coauthors. Research on succinct non-interactive arguments and zero-knowledge proofs discussed at CRYPTO, EUROCRYPT, and workshops involving the Ethereum Foundation and Zcash. - Ben-Sasson, E.; coauthors. Papers on complexity-theoretic foundations related to the Unique Games Conjecture and hardness of approximation published in venues including Journal of the ACM and conference proceedings for ICALP and SODA.

Category:Israeli computer scientists