Course Offerings
Our course offerings cover IT security and privacy protection from fundamentals to research. We value practical application and critical thinking more than mere knowledge transfer.
Current information about all courses is available on the Virtual Campus (VC) typically two weeks before the start of lectures. Binding information on content and examinations can be found in your program’s module handbook.
Fundamentals (Bachelor)
Inf-Einf-B – Introduction to Computer Science (9 ECTS, winter semester, e-assessment). Programming and problem-solving with various paradigms, based on Harvard University's CS50 … Details
Topics: Programming and problem-solving in C and Python, memory management, basic data structures and algorithms, programming paradigms (imperative, object-oriented, functional, event-based), web fundamentals, Linux/CLI. Inverted classroom with co-host. Course based on Harvard University's CS50.PSI-EDS-B – Ethics for the Digital Society (3 ECTS, winter semester, e-assessment). Ethical fundamental concepts for digital technologies with focus on responsibility, system design, privacy, and AI … Details
Ethical fundamental concepts and their application to digital technologies. Topics: Decision-making in autonomous systems and AI, reliability of computer systems, privacy aspects of information systems. Evaluating trade-offs of new technologies and designing systems in socially responsible ways. Case studies with essays and solution development for ethical challenges.PSI-IntroSP-B – Introduction to Security and Privacy (6 ECTS, winter semester, e-assessment). Fundamentals of IT security and privacy with practical exercises on attacks and defense … Details
Topics: fundamental protection goals and concepts, authentication, software security (e.g., buffer overflows), cryptography (symmetric, asymmetric, key exchange, TLS), network security (spoofing, DoS, IDS), web security (OWASP Top 10 including SQL injections and XSS), privacy techniques (including k-anonymity, differential privacy).PSI-DatSchu-B – Data Protection (3 ECTS, summer semester, block course in Aug./Sept., e-assessment). Fundamentals of data protection law with IT focus and practically relevant cases … Details
Fundamentals of data protection law (e.g., GDPR, German BDSG, TTDSG) with IT focus. Topics: Data minimization, pseudonymization, data subject rights, privacy by design/default, data security according to Art. 32 GDPR. Interfaces between data protection and IT security.Advanced (Master)
PSI-AdvaSP-M – Advanced Security and Privacy (6 ECTS, summer semester, e-assessment). Advanced security and privacy techniques with paper reading class and practical implementation... Details
Topics: Authentication techniques, web privacy (online tracking), privacy enhancing technologies (mixes, Tor), usability aspects, security ethics, advanced software security (symbolic execution), modern cryptographic building blocks. Paper reading (current research literature). Practical implementation of attacks and defense techniques.PSI-DiffPriv-M – Introduction to Differential Privacy (6 ECTS, winter semester). Mathematically founded privacy definition by Dwork et al. with practical exercises on statistical privacy techniques … Details
Topics: Mathematical fundamentals (stochastics, important distributions like Gaussian/Laplace), statistical disclosure control, algorithmic DP fundamentals (randomized algorithms, privacy loss measurement, post-processing immunity), various DP approaches (DIP, GAN-based). Practical exercises with existing de-identification frameworks.Seminars and Projects
PSI-Sem-B/M – Seminars (every semester) Writing labs, presentation labs, in-class writing. Changing topics. Details in the respective current VC course.
PSI-ProjPAD-B – Practical Attacks (every semester, Bachelor) Challenge-based: Network, web, software security.
PSI-ProjCAD-M – Complex Attacks (every semester, Master) Like Bachelor project but with additional challenge development.
Theses
Practice-oriented theses on current research topics in IT security and privacy. Individual supervision with structured guide and professional LaTeX template.
Special Formats
We like to experiment with formats beyond traditional lectures. The following unusual teaching formats aim to increase motivation and peer learning.
Inf-Einf-B Final Project Fair: Students present their programming projects at a public fair at the end of the lecture period.
Inf-Einf-B Hackathon: Programming together on final projects late into the night during the week before the project fair.
Inf-Einf-B Study and Code Space: Joint exam preparation with instructors in an informal setting late into the night.
PSI-EDS-B Donation Jeopardy: Two teams compete with their knowledge – the winning team decides which digital rights NGO receives a donation.
PSI-IntroSP-B Stories: Lectures with Twine: nonlinear storytelling for knowledge application and conveying the daily work of security analysts.
Teaching Philosophy
We understand teaching as personal development: students should learn how to think – not just what to think. Our teaching philosophy is based on three fundamental pillars through which we educate independently thinking professionals and researchers.
Understanding before memorization. We promote analytical thinking through challenging tasks that go beyond mere knowledge reproduction. Students should learn to question concepts and evaluate them independently – not reproduce facts.
Continuous learning processes. True understanding emerges through regular engagement throughout the semester. We structure incentives to encourage active participation and self-study – instead of rewarding last-minute learning.
Responsible decisions. We consider every rule and every assessment in terms of the resulting incentives and power dynamics. This leads to decisions that may sometimes appear strict, but are in the students’ best interest.
We demand much – but also provide intensive support. High standards are always accompanied by comprehensive support and personal supervision. Both sides belong together: only those who are challenged grow beyond themselves. For us, it is sometimes “more important to be a good professor than the most popular professor”.
Resources for Educators
We gladly share our experiences and tools with all educators. We publish detailed experience reports on uni-mal-anders.de.
The following resources are already documented online:
Exam Booklet System
Weekly A5 summaries as personalized exam aids, typically with more than 80% participation rate, prevent bulimic learning and meaningless memorization through even distribution across the semester.
psi-exam E-Assessment System
Digital exams on laptops with real tools enable practice-oriented tasks, such as writing and debugging code (Visual Studio Code), analyzing websites (offline), and evaluating data (with R Studio). Currently more than 600 exams annually on 380 laptops – with the same tools as in later professional life.
Video Studio
Professional recording and live streaming for all educators with 50+ users to date and 500+ hours of produced material. Our video studio, established during the pandemic, lowers barriers to creating multimedia teaching materials.
PSI Template and PSI Thesis Guide
Comprehensive guide and LaTeX template for academic work with professional layout and concrete recommendations for figures, tables, and academic writing. Open source (CC BY SA 4.0), developed by researchers for students.
AI Policy Generator
Interactive generator for AI usage policies enables educators to develop structured, tailored policies for regulating the use of artificial intelligence in their courses.
Contact
Prof. Dr. Dominik Herrmann
Chair Privacy and Security in Information Systems
University of Bamberg, 96045 Bamberg
Chair Privacy and Security in Information Systems
University of Bamberg
96045 Bamberg
dh.psi@uni-bamberg.de | +49 951 863-2661
uni-mal-anders.de | LinkedIn
Prof. Dr. Dominik Herrmann
Chair Privacy and Security in Information Systems,
University of Bamberg, 96045 Bamberg
dh.psi@uni-bamberg.de
+49 951 863-2661
uni-mal-anders.de | LinkedIn