In the ever-evolving landscape of digital privacy, the power of Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) is revolutionizing how we protect and prove information. Noir, a leading language for privacy-first programmable privacy, is at the forefront of this innovation and is calling on you to help us enhance provable emails using Noir. This research campaign (NCR#1), running from August 8th - 25th, 2024 presents a unique opportunity to push the boundaries of privacy while creating novel solutions for secure email verification.
Why Privacy-First, Provable Emails?
The rise of Programmable Cryptography and Zero-Knowledge Proofs offers unprecedented potential for trustless and private verification of information, cryptographically bridging data across silos. Imagine a world where you can prove ownership of an email address or an email received without revealing its content or personal details. This capability is not just a theoretical possibility, but a practical reality waiting to be unlocked through advanced research and development.
What We’re Looking For
Aztec Labs has been a strong supporter of this vision, particularly with the ZK Email team's pioneering work. As a part of these continued efforts, we invite researchers, developers, tech enthusiasts, and anyone with creative ideas to propose a two-month research plan that explores ways to leverage Noir (and Aztec) to augment this work and its broader vision.
We’re looking for proposals focused on building end-user-oriented projects, including MVPs. Proposals focused on building developer tooling and technical/cryptography research are also welcome as long as their relevance to zkEmail is clear.
Multiple submissions are welcomed, however, to be considered, your proposal must meet the following criteria:
- Implementation in Noir: Your final implementation should include components written in Noir, if not fully in Noir.
- Testing and Documentation: Ensure thorough testing and comprehensive documentation of your implementation.
- Open Source: The final implementation must be open-sourced under a permissive license (e.g., MIT).
How to Submit Your Proposal
To participate, please head to our GitHub and submit your proposal using the following format:
- Title
- Summary
- Methodology
- Timeline and Deliverables
- Team
- Start Date
- Questions
Proposal submissions are open now and will close on August 25th, 2024. Our selection committee will pick two proposals that will receive up to US$40,000 in grants. Winners will be announced before September 5th, 2024, via GitHub Discussions and X.
Click here to get started on your proposal today.
Audit Partners
We believe in the value of the real-world impact of top-tier research.
To ensure the security and quality of applying research outcomes, we’re onboarding audit partners to sponsor and provide auditing for the final implementations of selected proposals. Potential audit partners will be evaluated up to August 20th, 2024, and announced on GitHub by August 31st, 2024.
To learn more about how to get involved, please contact Savio or Lisa.
Start Tinkering
Join us in pioneering the future of privacy-first communication. Submit your proposal and be part of this transformative journey with Noir!
