Cryptology Research for High School Student?

John3 asks: "My daughter is enrolled in an Advanced Science Research (ASR) course, at the local high school. The students join the program in 10th grade, choose a research topic, and then locate a mentor to work with them on their topic until high school graduation. My daughter took a cryptology course this past summer, and now she has chosen cryptology for her ASR topic. Most HS students pick mainstream research fields (medicine, genetics), so her science teacher is a bit unsure of where my daughter might locate a cryptology research project appropriate for advanced high school students (especially one that doesn't require security clearance). I'm hoping my fellow Slashdot readers might know of current cryptology/cryptography research projects that offered opportunities for a high school student to participate."

Comments

not sure but there's a good summer program

[BoomTechnology]

http://www.mathismylife.org/ --CMST (center for math science and technology) has/had a really good summer program in classical cryptanalysis funded by the NSA and taught by employees of the NSA. I took it several summers ago -- very interesting. Very diverse age-group in it, but it was a very challenging course and provides a good base for entering the cryptology field -- they started off with basic mono-alphabetic shifts, and worked their way up to matrix-based algorithms and statistical analysis. At the end there's something crazy like a challenge with 23 different cryptograms that must be solved (that no one almost ever does)...something to look into, though this year it looks like they're having trouble finding a venue.

Two essays, and a pointer

[woefulhc]

Just thought I'd toss in my few cents.

Bruce Schneier has a couple of essays that you might want to have your daughter check out. (Hopefully she already knows the info in the first, but....)

Here is his imput on how to get into the crypto field.

Why is crypto so hard .

If you or she aren't so keen on working with a local college/university math/CS department, I second the advice to hit up Phil Zimmermann. His site lists a number of ways to contact him. It also talks about his current project. (I found Mr. Zimmermann to be very gracious. I think the worst he would do is say no. More likely he would either agree or suggest someone as a alternative.)