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Dr. Erik Buchholz

About

Erik Buchholz

I am a Research Scientist in the Cybersecurity and Quantum Systems (CQS) group at CSIRO’s Data61. My research interests include privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs), differential privacy, generative models, and applied cryptography. Previously, I was a Postdoctoral Researcher in Cybersecurity at UNSW Sydney (ISPri research group) and GuardWare Australia, where my research focused on encrypting unstructured data in the defence supply chain.

I completed my PhD at UNSW Sydney and CSIRO’s Data61 in 2025, supported by the competitive CSCRC and UIPA scholarships. My PhD focused on the privacy of location trajectories using differential privacy and generative models. This thesis identified shortcomings of existing privacy mechanisms, proposed a novel reconstruction attack, and explored synthetic data generation as a privacy-preserving solution. My research was recognised with the Best Paper Award at PST’24 and publications at venues such as PETS, ACSAC, and AsiaCCS.

I am strongly committed to open science, and the code for all my publications is available on GitHub to ensure reproducibility and support future research. To ensure that my research leads to tangible impact, I am contributing to the Digital Futures Forum of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering. Moreover, I supervised over 20 students on theses, capstone projects, and internships, with two projects leading to international conference submissions. I served on the student advisory board for the AGSE Industry PhD program, acted as system administrator for the Information Security and Privacy (ISPri) research group, and was recognised as one of Australia’s Top100 Future Leaders in 2025. In recognition of my contributions to community wellbeing, including mentoring and volunteering, I was awarded the Arc PGC Faculty of Engineering Research Candidate Award.

I value opportunities to share my research with both the academic community and the public. I have delivered more than 15 oral and poster presentations, receiving the AGSE 3MT People’s Choice Award and the SecEdu Best Poster Award. These engagements help bridge the gap between research and practice, and I welcome further opportunities to collaborate and give talks.

Before my PhD, I earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees with distinction from RWTH Aachen, Germany. My master’s thesis on the privacy-preserving exchange of process parameters was published at ACSAC20 and received both the Vöcking Master Award and the FOLKS Best Master’s Thesis Award in 2020. During my studies, I was consistently ranked in the top 5% of students, featured on the dean’s list, and sponsored by the German Education Fund.

Outside my academic pursuits, I am passionate about fitness and nutrition, with a focus on competitive CrossFit and endurance running, including marathons and half-marathons. I also enjoy salsa dancing, cooking, and travelling with my partner. You can find my personal blog (in German) at downunder.erikbuchholz.de.

Awards & Scholarships
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Education
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  • PhD at UNSW Sydney

  • Master of Science with Distinction in Computer Science at RWTH Aachen

    • Final Grade: 1.0 (German Grading System)

    • Master’s Thesis: Privacy-Preserving Exchange of Process Parameters

    • Applied Course: Business Administration

  • Bachelor of Science with Distinction in Computer Science at RWTH Aachen

    • Final Grade: 1.1 (German Grading System)

    • Bachelor’s Thesis: A User-controlled Data Market for Privacy-preserving Data Analyses

    • Study Abroad at University of Technology Sydney for one year

    • Applied Course: Physics

  • German Abitur at Albert-Schweitzer-Gymnasium with overall degree 1.0

    • Focus Subjects: Physics, Maths, Chemistry.

(Academic) Service & Leadership
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Qualifications & Courses
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Languages
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  • German: Native speaker

  • English: Expert User (IELTS – Overall Band 9.0 (Expert User) on 27/07/2025)

  • Spanish: CEFR Level B2

Personal Interests
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Curriculum Vitae
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Personal Blog
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