Philipp-Alexander Hirsch

The Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law in Freiburg im Breisgau is recruiting a postdoctoral researcher for a project on the theory of normativity and the criminal law, focusing on the dialogue between German Normentheorie and UK/Anglophone approaches to legal normativity. The position sits in the independent Research Group Criminal Law Theory , headed by Prof. Dr. Dr. Philipp-Alexander Hirsch , within the Department of Criminal Law led by Prof. Dr. Tatjana Hörnle . The group works on the normative foundations and functions of punishment and criminal law, approaching doctrinal questions through interdisciplinary analysis of legal theory and philosophy. In the project, the postdoc will contribute to a structured comparison of German and Anglophone traditions and help build a shared analytical framework for thinking about criminal wrongdoing, liability, punishment, norms and reasons, conduct and decision rules, duties and rights, responsibility, and sanctions. The project is jointly led with JP Fassnidge at the University of Aberdeen and includes collaboration across Freiburg and Aberdeen, as well as exchange with international scholars in the Max Planck Law network. The role is designed to support an independent academic profile through research output and collaboration, within a research environment offering extensive library and database resources, workshops, seminars, conferences, and strong administrative support. The post is embedded in a highly international institute and a project explicitly aimed at advancing transnational research in criminal law theory and legal philosophy.