Description:
At the Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony (KFN), a position is to be filled as part of the DFG-funded project “The role of religiosity in delinquency among Christian and Muslim youths”, starting on October 1, 2025 (or later). The position is limited to three years and is part-time (75%). The candidate is strongly encouraged to pursue a PhD within the project. The salary is based on pay scale 13 TV-L of the German public sector collective agreement, contingent on applicable tariff and personal qualifications.
The project is led by Dr. Jan-Philip Steinmann (sociologist) and examines a classic criminological question: How are religiosity and delinquent behavior related? This relationship is investigated using the example of Christian and Muslim adolescents. While religiosity is often considered to have a delinquency-reducing effect, recent studies emphasize the increasing complexity of the relationship between religiosity and delinquency. The project aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of this complexity. This involves considering the multidimensional nature of both religiosity and delinquency, as well as employing a comparative religious approach. Four perspectives (mechanistic, intersectional, contextual, longitudinal) will be utilized to investigate the relationship between religiosity and delinquency in a theoretically sound and empirically ambitious manner.
Prof. Sarah Carol (University College Dublin) and Prof. Gert Pickel (Leipzig University) are involved in the project as cooperation partners. Further information about the project can be found here: https://en.kfn.de/research-projects/dfg-religion-delinquency/
Your responsibilities:
- Conducting innovative analytical-empirical research on the relationship between religiosity and delinquency in collaboration with the project leader
- Analyzing data from the Lower Saxony Survey (2022, 2024, and 2026)
- Supporting the collection of an additional Muslim sample
- Preparing data from the “religion module”
- Writing articles for (international) academic journals
- Presenting project findings at (international) conferences
- Assist in organizing and running a project workshop
Your profile:
- Completed a master’s degree in sociology, psychology, political science (or related fields, ideally with a focus on criminology
- Interest in offender-related research on the causes of crime
- Very good knowledge of quantitative research methods and statistics, along with confident use of at least one statistical software program (preferably Stata or R)
- Ability to learn advanced multivariate analysis techniques (e.g., estimation of nonlinear interaction effects and multiverse analysis)
- Strong proficiency in the English language and willingness to write manuscripts in English
- Knowledge of the sociology of religion and/or migration is an asset
What We Offer:
- An intellectually stimulating and multifaceted role in one of Germany’s leading criminological research institutes
- A pleasant working atmosphere in an interdisciplinary team of researchers engaged with a wide range of causes and consequences of crime
- Regular doctoral colloquia and opportunities for methodological training
- Possibility for remote work (currently 50%) and flexible working hours
- Opportunity to focus entirely on academic research (no teaching obligations, although teaching is possible if desired)
- Funding for conference attendance, summer schools, etc.
- Four-week research stay in Dublin
If interested, please send your application with the following documents:
- Cover letter (incl. motivation)
- Curriculum vitae
- Certificates (high school diploma and university transcripts)
- Proposal (max. 2 pages) of a possible doctoral project (research question, theoretical framework, methodological approach), in German or English
- Writing sample (e.g. master’s thesis)
by September 17, 2025, exclusively by email as a single PDF file to the project leader, Dr. Jan-Philip Steinmann, at: jp.steinmann@kfn.de. Please direct any questions about the project or the advertised position to the above-mentioned email address.
We welcome applications from all suitable candidates, regardless of gender, cultural and social background, age, religion, beliefs, disability, or sexual identity.
It is necessary to store personal data to carry out the application process. By sending us your application, you agree that your data may be stored and processed electronically for application purposes in compliance with data protection regulations. We would like to point out that you have various rights as an applicant in accordance with Art. 13 of the General Data Protection Regulation. You can find detailed information on which rights these are and how your data is processed at the following link: https://en.kfn.de/datenschutzerklaerung/
We look forward to your application!
