The Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony (KFN) is an independent, interdisciplinary research institute established in 1979 by the then Minister of Justice of Lower Saxony, Prof. Dr. Hans-Dieter Schwind. Its mandate is to carry out and promote practice-oriented criminological research as an independent research establishment. The institute works closely with the University of Göttingen on the basis of a cooperation agreement.
KFN is supported by a non-profit association. KFN is funded by the Lower Saxony Ministry for Science and Culture under the Ministry’s institutional funding programme.
News
Vacancy: Researcher (Pre-Doc) (f/m/d), 75 %, starting on 1 October 2025 (or later) in the DFG project ‘The role of religiosity in delinquency among Christian and Muslim youths”
Researcher (Pre-Doc) (m/f/d), 75% Sociology, Psychology, Political Science, Criminology or related disciplines The position is to be filled within the DFG-funded project ‘The role of religiosity in delinquency among Christian and Muslim youths’ Start: 01.10.2025 (or later), limited to 3 years. Pursuit of a doctorate within the framework of the… Read more →
DFG project “The role of religiosity in delinquency among Christian and Muslim youths” granted!
The project ‘The role of religiosity in delinquency among Christian and Muslim youths,’ led by Dr. Jan-Philip Steinmann, will be funded by the German Research Foundation for a period of 36 months and examines a classic criminological question: How are religiosity and delinquent behavior related? You can find all… Read more →
Save the date: The Gender & Crime conference is entering its fourth round!
Save the date: The Gender & Crime conference is entering its fourth round! 12 & 13 March 2026 In person in Göttingen We are pleased to announce that the Gender & Crime conference will take place for the fourth time next year – this time with a focus on gender… Read more →
Vacancy: Researcher (Pre-Doc) (m/f/d), 75 %, starting on 1 March 2026 in the DFG project ‘Violence against Political Actors at the Grassroots Level’
Researcher (Pre-Doc) (m/f/d), 75% political science, criminology or related fields The position is to be filled within the DFG project ‘Political Violence at the Grassroots Level’. Start: 01.03.2026, limited to 3 years. Very good German language skills are required. Doctorate within the framework of the project expressly desired! Further information… Read more →
Criminological Colloquium March 2025
We cordially invite you to the following guest lecture as part of the Criminological Colloquium on Tuesday, 4 March 2025, 18.00: Gender-based online violence against female politicians in West Africa: A case of Sierra Leone Makalay Sonda (Njala University) The lecture will be held in English and a… Read more →
Criminological Colloquium March 2024
We cordially invite you to the following guest lecture as part of the Criminological Colloquium on Tuesday, 5 March 2024, 18.00: Coping with emotionally challenging research: Findings from the Researcher Wellbeing Project Dr. Tina Skinner (University of Bath) The lecture will be held in English and exclusively online…. Read more →
Gender & Crime conference: Call for Papers
The conference will be held on Thursday, 25th April, and Friday, 26th April 2024, as a face-to-face conference at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. In addition to a keynote lecture and a panel discussion, current topics and research results will be presented and discussed in various panel sessions. Abstracts for panel… Read more →
New publication: Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs
The former employee Dr. Ina Ulrich (geb. Klopp) published her dissertation „Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. Eine empirische Untersuchung zur polizeilichen und justiziellen Vorgehensweise gegen Mitglieder von Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs“. In view of the high priority that the phenomenon of outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGs), especially in the context of organized crime, has… Read more →
English research report of the results of the Lower Saxony Survey 2019 published
The focus of the Lower Saxony Survey is the investigation of unreported cases of juvenile delinquency, i.e., experiences of violence, violent offenses, as well as victimhood and perpetration of property crimes. In addition, factors of juvenile delinquency as well as other forms of deviant behavior are collected, including truancy and… Read more →
Call for Papers: Gender & Crime – Sexual self-determination and gender-based violence – Virtual conference 24-25th November 2022
The specialist conference will take place on Thursday, November 24th and Friday, November 25th, and will once again be held in the form of a virtual meeting. The intended format for both days is panel discussions with short presentations (max. 15 minutes each) followed by a discussion. In addition to… Read more →