Jean-Louis van Gelder is a parttime Professor Criminology at the Institute of Education and Child Studies, Leiden University. He is also director at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, Freiburg, Germany.

More information about Jean-Louis van Gelder

Short CV

Jean-Louis van Gelder has degrees in psychology and law and converted to the study crime and delinquent behavior after a stint in urban development research in Buenos Aires, Argentina during his first PhD. His research interests center on the use of novel technologies to study crime and offender rehabilitation, the role of affect and personality factors in criminal decision making, and the role of short-term mindsets as they relate to criminal conduct and other types of self-defeating behavior (e.g., substance use). Currently, virtual reality is increasingly taking center stage in Van Gelder’s research agenda in which virtual environments are used to study criminal decision making. Furthermore, as part of his ERC Consolidator Grant, Van Gelder explores the possibilities of VR technology for offender rehabilitation. 

Short cv

• 2019-present: Director, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, Freiburg, Germany
• 2018-2019: Full Professor, Dept. of Psychology of Conflict, Risk & Safety, University of Twente, The Netherlands
• 2013-2017: Senior Researcher, Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), Amsterdam
• 2012: PhD. Psychology, VU University Amsterdam
• 2009-2013: Research Fellow, Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), Amsterdam
• 2009: Ph.D. Law, University of Amsterdam
• 2002: M.A. Law, University of Amsterdam
• 1999: M.A. Psychology, University of Amsterdam

Grants

Van Gelder was awarded several subsidies over the course of his career, including an ERC Consolidator Grant in 2017. 

Publications