Research development & partnerships officer UGent Crime Lab

Offer Description

Apply before 08/03/2026 23:59 (Brussels Time)

Faculty of Law and Criminology

Department: RE23 - Criminologie, Strafrecht en Sociaal Recht

Occupancy rate: 50%

Number of positions: 1

Type of employment:
Contract of limited duration

Term of assignment: 4 maanden

Wage scale: WM1 to WM4 (master degree or doctoral degree)

Required diploma:
Master or PhD

Ghent University is a world of its own. Employing more than 15,000 people, it is actively involved in education and research, management and administration, as well as technical and social service provision on a daily basis. It is one of the largest, most exciting employers in the area and offers great career opportunities. With its 11 faculties and more than 80 departments offering state‑of‑the‑art study programmes grounded in research in a wide range of academic fields, Ghent University is a logical choice for its staff and students.

UGent Crime Lab is an academic research group within the Faculty of Law and Criminology at Ghent University. The group brings together leading expertise in computational, quantitative and analytical criminology to advance the scientific study of crime and societal responses to crime. With a strong interdisciplinary orientation, Crime Lab builds bridges between criminology, psychology, data science, spatial analysis, behavioural biology and computer science.

The team investigates a broad range of topics, including the micro‑geography of crime, policing strategies, predictive models, environmental criminology, public perceptions of crime and safety, and cross‑border behaviour such as sexual boundary‑crossing behaviour. A central focus lies on understanding the mechanisms underlying cooperation and its breakdown, why, when and how individuals violate rules, and how societies can respond to such behaviour effectively.

Crime Lab combines crime data with experimental methods, (factorial) survey research, fieldwork and meta‑analyses to analyse both individual and collective patterns of crime and societal responses. Team members are committed to producing robust, data‑driven insights that contribute to both academic knowledge and societal impact.

Your assignment is situated at the interface between scientific research, policy and practice, with the objective of creating new collaborations, test environments and follow‑up projects. This is not a commercial position, but a research‑oriented role that supports the societal and strategic embedding of the research group.

Concretely, your tasks include:

• Actively building and maintaining relationships with (prospective) stakeholders, such as police services, justice actors, customs, local and regional authorities, European institutions, and other public, institutional or private actors.
• Identifying and facilitating opportunities for pilot projects, applied case studies and test setups in which research results can be implemented and evaluated.
• Contributing to the development and writing of new research and project proposals (e.g. FWO, SBO, VLAIO, Horizon Europe, Internal Security Fund, Digital Europe).
• Positioning and “translating” academic research into policy, practice and funding contexts, with attention to feasibility, relevance and impact.
• Monitoring relevant funding calls, policy developments and programmes at Flemish, federal and European level.
• Representing the project and the research group in networks, consultation meetings, workshops and conferences.
• Working closely with the Principal Investigator and the research team on strategic choices and long‑term planning of the research programme.

• You hold a Master’s degree or a PhD in economics, business administration, management, marketing, political sciences, public administration, criminology, safety sciences, sociology, law or a related field.
• You have demonstrated interest in or experience with project development, research funding, innovation‑or policy‑oriented environments.
• You are able to quickly grasp complex research content and communicate it clearly to non‑academic audiences.
• You possess strong networking, organisational and communication skills.
• Experience with…