Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Gdańsk is an interdisciplinary programme for students who want to understand crime-its causes, patterns, and consequences-and the institutions designed to prevent and respond to it. Criminology is taught as a meta-discipline integrating law, social sciences, psychology, and biomedical perspectives. You will explore deviant behaviour, victimisation, criminal prevention, and the philosophy and sociology of punishment, while gaining solid foundations in criminal law and the organisation of the criminal justice system. The curriculum combines academic expertise with practice-oriented learning led by experienced researchers and professionals, including judges, prosecutors, lawyers, probation officers, mediators, physicians, and psychologists. A comparative European and international perspective helps students analyse diverse approaches to justice and policy, preparing them for careers in dynamic and evolving criminal justice environments.
DURATION: 3 years (6 semesters)
PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS
- Interdisciplinary curriculum delivered across five faculties, integrating legal, social, behavioural, and scientific approaches to crime.
- Strong core in criminal justice: criminology foundations, criminal law, European criminal law, comparative law, human rights, and forensics.
- Specialist subjects including forensic medicine, psychopathology, resocialisation pedagogy, and criminal biology
Practice-based teaching with supervision from professionals across the justice system (courts, prosecution, mediation, probation, health and psychological services). - Advanced learning infrastructure: more than 30 specialist laboratories, including ballistics facilities, polygraph training, and an experimental observation laboratory with one-way mirrors.
- Laboratory-based research opportunities, including psycho-neurophysiological methods (for example, brain activity measurement using electroencephalography).Mandatory professional internship in the fourth semester in institutions such as the Police, Prison Service, Judiciary, Prosecutor’s Office, Customs Service, or Border Guard.
- Established programme experience: one of Poland’s earliest full criminology degrees in this field (since 2013), continuously developed and updated.
JOB PROSPECTS
- Criminal justice institutions (courts, prosecution support services, public administration related to justice policy)
- Police and investigative services, including crime prevention and analytical units
- Prison and probation services, resocialisation and rehabilitation support
- Victim support and safeguarding, including non-governmental organisations and public programmes
- Mediation and restorative justice services
- Insurance and risk-related sectors, including fraud prevention and claims analysis
- Research and academia, with a strong foundation for postgraduate study and empirical criminological work.
More information about the programme needed – please contact coordinator Assoc. Prof. Dr habil. Sławomir Steinborn, slawomir.steinborn@ug.edu.pl