Shir Cohen, born in 1994 and raised in Ra’anana, now resides in Haifa with her husband, Barak, and her German Shepherd, Zeus. Her early fascination with science and mathematics led her to pursue a BSc in Computer Science at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.

Shir developed a special interest in the impact of human behavior on technology. While pursuing her BSc, she was exposed to the field of distributed computing, which immediately enchanted her. In this realm, Shir examines broad aspects of the reliability and security of distributed systems, with a focus on blockchains and other decentralized financial technologies. These systems play a significant role in creating reliable environments where people invest their time and money, making them prone to attacks. By finding efficient and resilient algorithms Shir intends to improve the scalability and reliability of the technology.

Currently, Shir is a direct-track PhD candidate in Computer Science at the Technion, under the supervision of Prof. Idit Keidar. Her research focuses on building theoretical foundations for practical distributed systems. She has received several awards both for academic excellence and for excellence in teaching.