Biometrics refers to the automatic recognition of individuals based on their physiological and/or behavioral characteristics.

Biometrics refers to the automatic recognition of individuals based on their physiological and/or behavioral characteristics.

The Biometrics Security and Privacy (BSP) group at Idiap focuses on three main areas of research:

  1. Biometric recognition: We investigate and develop new biometrics based recognition algorithms, notably for face, voice, and vein biometric modalities.
  2. Presentation attack detection: We look for new and better ways of detecting presentation attacks on face, voice, and vein biometric recognition systems.
  3. Biometric template protection: We research effective methods of preserving both the security of biometric recognition systems and the privacy of their users by protecting the biometric models ("templates") that are employed by the system for recognition purposes.

The BSP group prioritizes reproducibility in research. This is important for ensuring that our work can be both verified and built upon by the wider research community. To enable reproducibility, we mainly make use of our Python-based signal-processing and machine-learning toolbox, Bob, which we make freely available for academic purposes. The group also develops and maintains the BEAT platform -- a MLaaS platform compliant with Swiss and European data-security norms.

The group participates in several large-scale biometrics projects at Swiss (SNSF), European (H2020) or world-wide levels but also conducts projects directly with companies.

The BSP group provides also expertise to the Swiss Center for Biometrics Research and Testing, which, among other things, carries out tests and evaluations on commercial products related to biometrics.

Group News

World leaders in biometrics met at Idiap
tech — Apr 26, 2023

Idiap hosted a Biometrics Week. This one of a kind event gathered several hundreds of people from various backgrounds ranging from academia to industry. Organizers included the European Association for Biometrics and the US based Center for Identification Technology Research.

Improved facial recognition technologies inside cars
research — Jan 31, 2022

Institute’s researchers in biometrics developed tools for more efficient and more reliable facial recognition techniques in the automotive industry. They made available their results open source.

Group Job Openings

Our group is regularly posting job openings ranging from internships to researcher positions. To check the opportunities currently available or to submit a speculative applications use the link below.Our group is regularly posting job openings ranging from internships to researcher positions. To check the opportunities currently available or to submit a speculative applications use the link below.

Current Group Members

The group is led by Sébastien Marcel.

MARCEL, Sébastien
(Senior Research Scientist with Academic Title)
- website


BHATTACHARJEE, Sushil (Kumar)
(Research Associate)
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KOMATY, Alain
(Research Associate)
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GEORGE, Anjith
(Research Associate)
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KOTWAL, Ketan
(Research Associate)
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KRIVOKUĆA HAHN, Vedrana
(Research Associate)
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KORSHUNOV, Pavel
(Research Associate)
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MOHAMMADI, Amir
(Research Associate)
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VIDIT, Vidit
(Postdoctoral Researcher)
- website


JIMÉNEZ DEL TORO, Oscar (Alfonso)
(Postdoctoral Researcher)
- website


ECABERT, Christophe
(Postdoctoral Researcher)
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LUÉVANO GARCÍA, Luis Santiago
(Postdoctoral Researcher)
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OTROSHI SHAHREZA, Hatef
(Postdoctoral Researcher)
- website


COLBOIS, Laurent
(PhD Student / Research Assistant)
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RAHIMI NOSHANAGH, Parsa
(PhD Student / Research Assistant)
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ULUCAN, Ibrahim
(Research Assistant)
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NEUGBER, Samuel
(R&D / Research Assistant)
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POLAC, Magdalena
(R&D / Research Assistant)
- website


COSTA BARBOSA, Lucas
(Research Intern)


PANNATIER, Yvan
(Research Intern)


Alumni

Please note that this list is not exhaustive.

  • AEBERHARD, Niels
  • ALVARENGA CARDOSO, Lucas (Alexandre)
  • ATANASOAEI, Constantin-Cosmin
  • BALA SUBBURAMAN, Venkatesh
  • BENDALE, Abhijit
  • BOURLARD, Maxime
  • BROS, Victor
  • BRUNINI, Gabriele
  • CAJEUX, Nils
  • CHINGOVSKA, Ivana
  • DE FREITAS PEREIRA, Tiago
  • DE REZENDE ROCHA, Anderson
  • DIEFENBAUGH, Jaden
  • EGLITIS, Teodors
  • EL KHOURY, Elie
  • EL SHAFEY, Laurent
  • ERDOGMUS, Nesli
  • FORMAZ, Marine
  • GALBALLY, Javier
  • GÜNTHER, Manuel
  • HALSTEAD, Michael (Allan)
  • HEUSCH, Guillaume
  • HUANG, Junduan
  • IBSEN, Mathias
  • JOHANSSON, Niklas
  • JUST, Agnès
  • KEOMANY, Jean
  • MÄÄTTÄ, Jukka
  • MANDASARI, Miranti
  • MCCOOL, Christopher
  • MCLAREN, Mitchell
  • MEHTA, Rakesh
  • MILLIUS, Josselin
  • MORAIS, Antonio
  • MOSTAANI, Zohreh
  • NGUYEN, Huy (Hong)
  • NIKISINS, Olegs
  • ORRÙ, Giulia
  • ÖZBULAK, Gokhan
  • PETTINATO, Michela
  • RABELLO DOS ANJOS, André
  • RAZEGHI, Behrooz
  • ROY, Anindya
  • SANCHEZ RIERA, Jordi
  • SARFJOO, Saeed (Seyyed)
  • SARKAR, Eklavya
  • SCHMIDLI, Dominic
  • SELLIAH, Janani
  • STEL, Lucas
  • THURRE, Veronique
  • TOME, Pedro
  • UNNERVIK, Alex
  • VANONI, Matthias
  • VAUCHER, Karine
  • WALLACE, Roy (Geoffrey)
  • WEBER, Benno
  • ZHANG, Xinyi

Active Research Grants

Past Research Grants