Fabienne Thijs

Fabienne Thijs is a Researcher at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR) since 2025. She holds a postdoc position at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and NSCR (2023-2024), and completed her PhD at Vrije Universiteit (VU) and NSCR (2018-2023). Her academic background includes a Master’s in Holocaust and Genocide Studies (UvA/NIOD) and International Relations (UvA), with research experience at the Extraordinary Chambers in Cambodia (ECCC) and policy research at Regioplan.

Her research focuses on terrorism suspect characteristics, criminal careers of extremist actors, and comparing activism/extremism dynamics. Key contributions include analyzing probation files for Dutch terrorists, profiling police stop-and-search practices, and studying online recruitment by extremist groups. She coordinates the Activism, Extremism and Terrorism division within the Dutch Society for Criminology.

Publications highlight themes like foreign fighter pathways, anti-vaccination discourse on Telegram, and socio-economic influences on terrorism. Methodologically, she pioneers covert observational studies to detect bias in policing and employs mixed-method approaches for policy-relevant insights.