index.md

layout	title	description	tags	image
home2	whoami	Benedikt Bünz's website	Jekyll theme responsive blog template	feature road.jpg

Researcher

I'm a second-year PhD student at Stanford University in [Dan Boneh](https://crypto.stanford.edu/~dabo)'s [Applied Cryptography Group](https://crypto.stanford.edu). During the summer of 2017 I was an intern at [Visa Research](https://usa.visa.com/about-visa/visa-research.html) where I was supervised by [Shashank Agrawal](https://shashank-agrawal.com) and [Mahdi Zamani](http://mahdiz.com/). Before my PhD I received my M.S. in Computer Science from Stanford and my B.S. in Computer Science from the [University of Zurich](http://www.ifi.uzh.ch/en.html). My undergrad thesis on combinatorial auctions was advised by [Prof. Sven Seuken](http://www.ifi.uzh.ch/en/ce/people/seuken/.html) and [Prof. Ben Lubin](http://people.bu.edu/blubin/) (Boston University).

Runner

I like to run in circles. Somewhere between 2 and 12 times but I am really best when it's 3.75 times. I currently mostly train with [Strava TC](http://www.stravatrackclub.com/) under Dena Evans. I am also associated with and am racing for the [Stanford Running Club](https://running.stanford.edu), [Hamburg Running](http://hamburg-running.de/) and [LC Regensdorf](http://www.lcr.ch). You can stalk my runs on [Strava](https://www.strava.com/athletes/12017759). My personal records are 3:51.5 for 1500m and 14:55 for 5km and 31:40 for 10km. My short term goal is to qualify for the German national championships and long term I would like to run under 4 minutes for the mile. But for the most part I run because I enjoy it and I enjoy pushing myself to my limit.

Traveler

I have been extremley blessed with the opportunity to travel a lot. After graduating from my Masters in the summer of 2016, I decided to fullfill a lifelong dream of mine and bike across the United States. 40 days after I had left the Bay Area I reached the White House in Washington D.C. While it was hardly a life changing spiritual experience, it was certainly an adventure. If you want to know more about it you can read my way too detailed travel journal at [crazyguyonabike.com](https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=tS&doc_id=18076&v=VC). Thanks to this bike trip and the subsequent roadtrip home I have already visited 31 states. I am planning to get all 50 by the end of my PhD so if you know a good excuse to go to Nebraska let me know. Recently I have become an expert on whether purchasing 30 year old RVs makes sense. The answer is no.