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University of Bayreuth, Press Release No. 004/2025 - 17 January 2025

Funding for Research about AI in Criminal Law and Digital Administration

The Volkswagen Foundation is funding two projects at the University of Bayreuth under its initiatives "Change! Fellowships" and "Change! Research Groups," which contribute to transformation processes in public administration and the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in criminal law. The total funding amounts to approximately €3 million.

The "Change! Fellowships" and "Change! Research Groups" initiatives of the Volkswagen Foundation aim to initiate transformation processes to address the numerous crises we face today. The foundation brings together academics at least two years post-doctorate with non-academic stakeholders in research projects. Two such "Change!" projects are now being funded at the University of Bayreuth.

In the project "Bridging the Gap: Human-Centric Digital Transformation in Public Administration," Prof. Dr. Anna Maria Oberländer and her team from the Junior Professorship of Information Systems and Digital Transformation at the University of Bayreuth collaborate with Dr. Karolina Maronna-Aigner and her team from BYTE – Bavarian Agency for Digital Affairs – to research digital transformation in public administration.

In the project "Bridging the Gap: Human-Centric Digital Transformation in Public Administration," Prof. Dr. Anna Maria Oberländer and her team from the Junior Professorship of Information Systems and Digital Transformation at the University of Bayreuth collaborate with Dr. Karolina Maronna-Aigner and her team from BYTE – Bavarian Agency for Digital Affairs – to research digital transformation in public administration. "Public administration is often underestimated but is a critical lever in societal transformation processes, particularly in the current digital transformation of our society. Our 'Change!' project aims to understand, promote, and shape the digital transformation of public administration from a human-centric perspective while bridging the gap between theoretical insights and practical application," says Oberländer.

The project team is working on concrete digitization initiatives in public administration. Examples include developing a digital platform for processing funding applications, supporting legislation suitable for digitalization, and preparing proactive, human-centric administrative services. Conceptually and theoretically, the team collects data, derives overarching insights, develops new approaches, and ensures generalizability and knowledge transfer beyond the context of Bavarian public administration. Ultimately, the project aims to strengthen citizens' trust in the state through a forward-looking, digital public administration. The research project will be funded for 48 months starting in March 2025, with €1.58 million.

The second project, "FAIRLEA – Fair AI Research for Law Enforcement Agencies," led by Prof. Dr. Christian Rückert from the Chair of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure Law, and IT Criminal Law at the University of Bayreuth, investigates how AI-based tools can be used in criminal investigations while meeting the requirements of law enforcement agencies and legal obligations under German and European law. Law enforcement agencies increasingly rely on AI to improve investigation efficiency. For instance, in cryptocurrency-related crimes, law enforcement often uses cryptocurrency analysis tools to trace money and deanonymize users.

However, there are currently no studies on the legal and technical aspects of using AI in cryptocurrency systems for law enforcement purposes. The research results from FAIRLEA will be directly applied in practice. In addition to Professor Rückert's team, the project includes the Chair of Information Systems and Human-Centric AI (Prof. Dr. Niklas Kühl) at the University of Bayreuth, Iknaio GmbH in Vienna, and the Bavarian Cybercrime Central Office.

Professor Rückert's chair will investigate legal aspects such as data protection law, the EU AI Regulation, and criminal procedure law. At Professor Kühl's chair, researchers will explore how legal requirements can be technically implemented during the training of AI models for cryptocurrency analysis. A data scientist from Iknaio GmbH will examine the forensic and technical possibilities of integrating AI models into existing cryptocurrency analysis tools. As an associated partner, the Bavarian Cybercrime Central Office will contribute law enforcement requirements and provide data for research and model testing.

The project is expected to start in June 2025 and will receive total funding of approximately €1.35 million, of which €960,000 will go to the University of Bayreuth.

About the "Change! Fellowships and Research Groups" Initiative

The funding initiative targets researchers from all disciplines whose work contributes to transformation processes. A transdisciplinary approach and the involvement of non-academic actors such as associations, authorities, and businesses are prerequisites for funding. Research and early-career groups that generate transformative knowledge can receive up to €1.8 million over a period of five years.

Dr. Anna Maria Oberländer

Prof. Dr. Anna Maria Oberländer

Holder of the Chair of Information Systems and Digital Transformation
University of Bayreuth

Ein Männerproträt

Prof. Dr. Christian Rückert

Chair of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure Law, and IT Criminal Law
University of Bayreuth

Phone: +49 (0) 921 / 55-6351
E-Mail: lehrstuhl.str2@uni-bayreuth.de

Theresa Hübner

Theresa Hübner

Deputy Press & PR Manager
University of Bayreuth

Phone: +49 (0) 921 / 55-5357
E-mail: theresa.huebner@uni-bayreuth.de