[2][3] In 1998 Van Assche graduated from Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) with a Physics Engineer degree.
Nicolas Cerf where he researched quantum key distribution (QKD) and related classical information theory problems such as secret-key distillation, reconciliation and privacy amplification.
His thesis was later expanded into a book, "Quantum Cryptography and Secret-Key Distillation"[4] published by Cambridge University Press on 29 June 2006.
[5] Along with Joan Daemen and Michaël Peeters he designed the NOEKEON family of block ciphers which were submitted to the NESSIE project in September 2000.
[1] He currently works in the Secure Microcontrollers Division of STMicroelectronics in Diegem, Belgium and teaches cryptography at the École Supérieure d'Informatique as well as the Université libre de Bruxelles in Brussels.