Postdoctoral Scholar, Criminal Justice Research Center

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A Postdoctoral Scholar position at the Criminal Justice Research Center (CJRC) and the Department of Sociology and Criminology, The Pennsylvania State University. The appointment is term‑based, beginning in the Fall of 2026, with flexibility. The scholar will work on an ongoing mixed‑method study on pretrial detention, charge bargaining, racial and contextual disparity, and sentencing, in collaboration with Dr. Miranda

A. Galvin.

• Earned a Ph.D. in a social or behavioral science within the past two years (or a current Ph.D. candidate).
• Advanced training in statistics, experience with large administrative datasets, and strong applied research interests in prosecution, pretrial, courts, or sentencing.
• Proficiency with Stata, multilevel modeling, decomposition analysis, and/or semi‑structured interviews.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to collaborate with faculty across multiple institutions.

• Collaborate with faculty across multiple universities on research projects.
• Conduct descriptive and multilevel analyses of administrative data.
• Perform site visits, conduct stakeholder interviews, and prepare local summary briefs and policy outreach materials.
• Assist in data collection, data management, grant proposal preparation, manuscript writing, and conference presentations.
• Participate in graduate student mentoring.
• Maintain flexibility to pursue independent research related to pretrial, prosecution, and sentencing.

Employment with the University requires successful completion of background check(s) in accordance with University policies.

Penn State provides a competitive benefits package for full‑time employees designed to support both personal and professional well‑being. For more detailed information, please visit our Benefits Page. (

Note:

For Postdoctoral benefits, please see our Postdoctoral Benefits page.)