René Torenvlied

This PhD project is part of the NWA-funded CRISP consortium, which brings together knowledge institutions and ministries to improve the connection between research and public policy. The doctoral researcher will work on the subproject Policy Lab Justice and Security: Intermediary between Knowledge and Sanction Policy at the Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Law, Leiden University. The project asks what kinds of knowledge policymakers need in order to work evidence-based in the design, implementation, and evaluation of sanction policy, what barriers they face in doing so, and whether an intermediary between knowledge and sanction policy can improve this process. The student will work closely with policy staff at the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security to shape the intermediary role, test its added value, and draw lessons and recommendations from the results. The research is embedded in a larger consortium that includes 8 PhD candidates and 3 postdoctoral researchers working across multiple subprojects on the co-creation of research and policy. The position sits within Leiden Law School’s criminology environment, which combines teaching and research in criminology, criminal justice, and related interdisciplinary themes. The project is supervised by Miranda Boone and René Torenvlied. The opening is research-oriented, collaborative, and tied to an international and practice-facing consortium focused on strengthening the use of research in public decision-making.