Postdoctoral Researcher Children's Rights and Online Child Sexual Abuse Investigations

The Department Criminology, research group Crime & Society, is looking for a Postdoctoral Researcher Children's Rights and Online Child Sexual Abuse Investigations. 

The Postdoctoral Researcher will work within the framework of the Horizon Europe research project entitled SALVUS (Ensuring  Safer Justice Outcomes in Online, including undercover, child sexual abuse investigations) under supervision of Dr. Rosamunde Van Brakel. The goal of the SALVUS project is  to address the current gaps in knowledge, best practice and legislative frameworks in relation to online, including undercover, CSA investigations and build on this and existing knowledge to develop a holistic suite of innovative recommendations, best practice guidance and training to remedy regional and national shortcomings. The postdoctoral researcher will contribute to the development of the SALVUS projects methodological, theoretical and empirical tasks and will be responsible for the coordination of research activities for which the VUB is responsible ensuring timely and high-quality outputs. In addition there will be space to develop own research. In addition to research the postdoctoral researcher is also expected to provide minimal service to the department.  

For this function, the Brussels Humanities, Sciences & Engineering Campus (Elsene)  will serve as your home base. 

Profile

- PhD in Criminology, Socio-legal studies, Surveillance Studies or related social science discipline (to be defended at the latest 1 July 2025).

- Have an excellent international publication record that demonstrates independence as a researcher. You have a strong theoretical and empirical profile consistent with the research in the Crime & Society Research Group - https://cris.research.vub.be/en

• Interest in digital criminology
• Have a proven track record and demonstrable experience in the domain of children's rights and the use of technology in criminal justice and/or policing
• You have demonstrable experience in qualitative (interviews, focus groups) methodologies and analysis
• Excellent written and spoken language skills in English
• Creative mindset
• Have the ability to work both independently and in a multi-disciplinary and international  team 
• Work in a meticulous way and be able to manage deadlines
• Interest in working together with law enforcement and civil society

The following expertise is considered a plus:

• Experience in coordination of a research project and /or projectmanagement
• Research experience in the area of online police investigations of child sexual abuse and/or digital forensics
• Experience in co-creation and participatory (action) research
• Knowledge of and experience with (socio-)legal research
• Previous research experience on a EU Horizon project

The VUB wants to be a reflection of the society where everyone's talent is valued, regardless of gender, age, religion, skin color, migration background, disability and neurodiversity.