Lecturer in Criminology: Policing

Criminology, School of Social Sciences, Lancaster University (Full-time, indefinite post) 

 The School of Social Sciences at Lancaster University seeks to appoint a full-time Lecturer in Criminology. You will join the discipline of Criminology, undertaking undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and supervision, developing an innovative programme of research, and contributing to the wider academic life of the discipline and wider School through citizenship and leadership roles. The post offers an exciting opportunity to join one of the UK’s leading Criminology groups.

You will hold or be near completion of a PhD in Criminology or a cognate subject, with research or teaching experience in the specialist area of policing. They will be able to demonstrate excellence in teaching, initially leading on the module Contemporary Issues in Policing and contributing to other areas of our undergraduate degree programmes. They will also provide evidence of a developing trajectory of innovative research through publications, plans for grant applications, and engagement and impact work.

Criminology at Lancaster has an outstanding reputation for both teaching and research, currently ranked 10th in the UK in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2026 and 1st in the UK for teaching satisfaction for Criminology in The Guardian University Guide 2026. The successful candidate will join a vibrant, research-active criminology community with strengths in youth justice, punishment, organised and cybercrime, migration, gendered violence, drugs, and environmental harm. Specific policing-related research and engagement opportunities exist with the Lancashire Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) Academic Network, and the N8 Policing Research Partnership. The successful candidate will also have the opportunity to work within a multidisciplinary team at Lancaster University who won funding for Lancaster’s Policing Academic Centre of Excellence.

Lancaster University’s School of Social Sciences brings together Criminology, Educational Research, Linguistics and English Language, Social Work, and Sociology, providing the conditions for an inclusive, dynamic, and interdisciplinary research and teaching community of social scientists.

Lancaster University is a highly ranked, research-led institution located in the historic city of Lancaster. The North-West of England offers an excellent quality of life, with access to outstanding countryside, including the Lake District, and strong national and international transport links. For more reasons to work at Lancaster University, see - Jobs - Lancaster University.

Informal enquiries may be made to Professor Gary Potter, Discipline Lead for Criminology, at g.potter2@lancaster.ac.uk