This course will provide a comprehensive survey of topics relevant to Blockchain technology and to the ecosystem surrounding it. The course covers the main components that make Blockchain, starting from the basics of cryptography to the related aspects of game theory and economics. A solid understanding of Blockchain fundamentals is established by decomposing Bitcoin and building it from the bottom up, exploring and analyzing ideas behind the organization of its forming components.The course also surveys preceding technologies for digital currency and explains the relationship between crypto-currencies and Blockchains in order to build the full picture of the ecosystem surrounding blockchain technology. Participants in the course will be required to reflect on the arrangement of the different techniques, rules, and guidelines that form Blockchain and suggest possible extensions to the technology from their own research domains. Student presentations with in-depth discussions will be organized around specific topics relevant to Blockchains and their application under different domains.
The course is organized as a mixture of lectures and reading assignments with student presentations and discussions. The first half of the course will consist of a set of lecture sessions to build understanding of Blockchain fundamentals. The second half will be organized in a student presentation format, where participants will present and carry in-depth discussions of and reflections on selected related papers form the literature. During each session, students will:
Towards the end of the course, every participant will be required to write a scientific report (e.g., vision article, critical review, survey) in which they summarize the state of the art on a topic of their choice that is related to Blockchain (e.g., limitations and potential of Blockchain technology, usage of Blockchain and potential societal impact, extension of Blockchain technology with knowledge from other fields, synthesis of Blockchain components, etc.) and critically reflect on the content.
After the course the student will be able to:
The course will be assessed with a Pass/Fail grade, based on successful delivery of a presentation as well as a scientifically sound review report at the end of the course. In addition to this, a passing student must attend at least 75% of all lectures and 75% of all student presentation sessions.
This is a graduate course available for doctoral students. The course has no formal prerequisites; however, general computer science knowledge especially related to distributed systems or cryptography will be extremely helpful, although also not required. If you have any concerns about the nature of this course, do not hesitate to reach out to the facilitators.
For any questions or inquiries about the course, you are welcome to contact the course organizer by email.