What is the KFN?

The Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony (Kriminologisches Forschungsinstitut Niedersachsen, KFN) was founded in 1979 by the then Minister of Justice of Lower Saxony, Prof. Dr. Schwind, as an independent, interdisciplinary research institute. The aim of the institute, as laid down in its charter, is "to carry out and promote practice-oriented criminological research as an independent research establishment".

The body responsible for the KFN is a non-profitmaking association. The institute works closely with the University of Hanover on the basis of a cooperation agreement. The members of the institute are currently eleven university teachers and five others who are closely involved in the KFN �s field of work. After an initial five-year period in which the KFN financed from special funds allocated to Lower Saxony by the Volkswagen Foundation, since 1986 the institute has been an independant research institute funded by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs.