Dr Helen Kosc

Dr. Helen Kosc is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge. She joins the Institute, having completed a Doctorate and master’s at the University of Oxford’s Department of Sociology. Helen is originally from Toronto, Canada where she has extensive experience working with, and volunteering for, Correctional Services Canada (CSC).

For her Doctoral research, Helen has conducted an ethnographic study of the resettlement of 150 prison-leavers from one male, category B prison, over 18 months. Her work, conducted in partnership with the Ministry of Justice, HMPPS, and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, offers an up-close, micro-scale study of prison resettlement.

Beyond her Doctoral work, Helen strives to conduct interdisciplinary research that inspires evidence-informed policies and practices in the criminal justice system: She was a research assistant for the largest experimental audit study measuring discriminative hiring of ex-offenders in Europe; she co-authored a chapter in the newest Oxford Handbook of Evidence-Based Crime and Justice Policy, with Professor David Kirk; she worked in collaboration with Police Scotland and the University of Cambridge's Dr Miri Zilka, investigating the use of data science and advanced technologies in policing practices. Helen was also a Visiting Scholar at the University of Cambridge’s Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (2024),  and serves on the Editorial Board of the practitioner-facing ‘Advancing Corrections’ Journal.

Fellowships & Awards:

Paul Lewis Fellowship, The Mercatus Center (2025-2026)

Canadian Centennial Scholarship Fund, Fellow (2023, 2024, 2025)

Ronald Coase Fellowship, The Mercatus Center (2024-2025)

Institute of Humane Studies, Doctoral Grant Recipient (2023-2024)

Elinor Ostrom Doctoral Fellowship, The Mercatus Center (2022-2023)

The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Finalist (2022)