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Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law

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30.04.2025

14.06.2025

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Your profile

We are seeking to recruit a PhD student with a strong empirical background and a keen interest in crime prevention and behavioral interventions. You will work with an international and interdisciplinary team of researchers and virtual reality developers to create and test interventions to reduce crime in urban settings.

The challenge

The criminologist’s key challenge is studying crime, which often occurs outside direct observation. Historically, criminologists have focused on individual and social factors influencing criminal behavior, such as peers, gangs, neighborhoods, and dispositions, rather than the decision-making process during crimes.

The MAXLab Virtual Twin Program aims to fill this gap by using virtual reality (VR) to test crime prevention interventions. VR replicas of city areas, called “virtual twins,” of Freiburg and potentially other cities, will be developed for experimental manipulation. This method allows realistic, ecologically valid environments while maintaining researcher control. VR experiments provide access to participants’ motivations, emotions, and thoughts, offering insights into how interventions work and for whom. This research can advance understanding of criminal and anti-social behavior and ways to reduce it.

Interventions may involve human presence (e.g., guardians, ‘eyes on the street’) or environmental changes (e.g., CCTV, street lighting). Candidates are encouraged to propose their own innovative interventions for testing in VR. The project’s first phase involves designing interventions, consulting stakeholders, and organizing a hackathon with researchers, VR developers, and stakeholders to lay the groundwork for future research. Implementation, testing, and data analysis are expected to begin in the second year.

Specifications

Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law

Requirements

• Close to completing a master’s or equivalent degree in psychology (social, developmental), pedagogy, criminology, behavioral economics, sociology, or similar;
• Background in statistics (e.g., SPSS, R, Stata, Python);
• Experience with experimental research;
• Strong interest in crime research and innovative methods;
• Interest in developing applied solutions to reduce crime;
• Collaborative attitude valuing teamwork;
• Excellent English skills (written and spoken);
• Good social and communication skills.

Ideal candidates are committed to open science and transparency. Speaking German is a plus but not required; experience with VR or 3D modeling is not necessary.

Conditions of employment

Our institute offers excellent research conditions, including access to laboratories, libraries, databases, well-equipped workspaces, and support. Collaboration and participation in workshops, seminars, and conferences are encouraged.

The position is available immediately, limited to four years, fully funded, with no teaching duties. It is full-time (39 hours/week), with remuneration based on the German Civil Service Collective Agreement (TVöD Bund), pay category 13, 65%. The salary covers social insurance contributions. The work location is Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. We promote work-life balance with flexible options and professional development opportunities, including free German courses. Childcare facilities are nearby.

The Max Planck Society is an equal opportunity employer, supporting diversity and encouraging applications from underrepresented groups, including women, disabled persons, and individuals from diverse backgrounds.

Employer

The Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law (MPI-CSL) is a leading European research center in criminology, security, and law. Part of the Max Planck Society, it employs about 150 staff in Freiburg, a city known for its high quality of life. The department fosters interdisciplinary research with criminologists, psychologists, sociologists, mathematicians, and computer scientists working together to understand and prevent crime, utilizing innovative methods and real-world applications. The institute hosts several prestigious European Research Council grants and offers a dynamic research environment.