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6 PhD positions in COMCRIM project

COMbatting CRIMes that undermine democracy and the rule of law in a comprehensive and smart manner

29 February 2024

COMCRIM is an interdisciplinary research project conducted by a public-private consortium into crimes that undermine democracy and the rule of law in and via the Netherlands (ondermijning). Over 28 scholars from more than nine disciplines jointly examine the systemic factors of organized crime. Public and private partners collaborate to detect such crime in unconventional data sources such as banking records, follow the money and discern criminal networks, patterns, and effects. Altogether, our COMCRIM community thereby seeks to ensure proactive, evidence-based interventions that foster resilience of democracy and the rule of law.

COMCRIM is an interdisciplinary research project conducted in an innovative public-private research consortium. Together, we study the more systemic factors of crimes that undermine democracy and the rule of law in and via the Netherlands (rechtsstaat-ondermijnende criminaliteit or, in short, ondermijning). This means a focus on its business model. Hardly any organized crime can be committed without (a) persons, (b) money and (c) infrastructure. Therefore, we focus on (a) human trafficking, (b) money laundering and (c) corruption. All three are organized crimes themselves, and will allow us to detect (a) forced commission of (other) organized crimes, (b) the whitewashing of their criminal proceeds, and (c) their effects of interweaving the under- and upperworld.

For all three crimes, we do proactive crime victim detection in unorthodox data sources such as banking records, follow the money, and discern the criminal networks consisting of perpetrators, victims and facilitators. Based on such data, we model interventions and seek to understand their intended and unintended consequences. Plus we determine both micro, meso and macro level effects such as the triad of perpetrator-victim-facilitator and the impact on the national economy.

Through interdisciplinary research conducted by over 28 scholars, our aim is to develop proactive, evidence-based solutions to foster resilience in democracy and the rule of law. Our collaboration involves 22 diverse agencies, from the private and public sector, including four universities, two applied science organizations, three banks, two intelligence and law enforcement agencies, three NGO, three ministries, three network organizations, as well as a norm-setting body and national rapporteur.

Want to collaborate to detect such crime in unconventional data sources such as banking records, follow the money and discern criminal networks, patterns, and effects? There are 6 unique salaried PhD positions at Maastricht University (four), together with Erasmus University of Rotterdam, VU University Amsterdam and Central Bureau of Statistics, and University of Amsterdam (two)!

If PhD candidates are interested in these exciting positions but still have questions, please inform that they can contact Dr. Jill Coster van Voorhout as COMCRIM’s project director and its principal investigator and/or the five other work package leaders: Prof. Martijn Scheltema, Prof. Marcel Worring, Prof. Drona Kandhai, Dr. Yarin Eski and Prof. dr. Frank P. Pijpers.

For more information, please also see: https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/comcrim