The Hannes Hartenstein Lab

Hannes Hartenstein’s lab studies secure and reliable distributed systems, with a strong focus on blockchain, access control, replication, and formal verification. The group works on protocols and mechanisms for Byzantine fault tolerance, threshold cryptography, trusted execution environments, and replicated data types that continue to function under faults or malicious behavior. A second major theme is security for decentralized systems such as Ethereum, Lightning, Matrix, and other local-first or peer-to-peer platforms, including fairness, censorship resistance, and enforceable policies. The lab also uses formal methods such as TLA+ and Verus to specify, model check, and verify system behavior before implementation. Students joining the lab can expect a mix of theory and practice: designing protocols, proving properties, building prototypes, and evaluating performance and security trade-offs. The research is well suited for students who enjoy systems, security, distributed algorithms, and rigorous reasoning about real-world infrastructure.