Research collaboration
Joint research projects on concrete methodological questions: selection and annotation methodology, three-outlier validation, construct validity, inter-rater reliability (target: Cohen's κ ≥ 0.61).
Public sector
We address security and law-enforcement authorities, federal and state ministries, and public research bodies with an interest in early-warning research in public spaces — under an explicitly fundamental-rights-compliant architecture.
Status note
This page addresses research, funding, and cooperation inquiries. The research is currently self-funded without external third-party funding; any third-party funding or consortium contributions acquired are disclosed publicly upon acceptance. Operational deployment of security software is not the subject of this page.
What we offer
Joint research projects on concrete methodological questions: selection and annotation methodology, three-outlier validation, construct validity, inter-rater reliability (target: Cohen's κ ≥ 0.61).
Participation in consortium proposals for BMBF SIFO, Horizon Europe Cluster 3 (Civil Security for Society) and national funding lines. Public authorities are welcome as end-user components.
Structured data requests processable under research clauses (GDPR Art. 89 in conjunction with § 27 BDSG, plus sector-specific statutes where applicable) — with a prior MoU and a documented Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA).
Pre-assessment under AI Act Annex III (law enforcement). Outreach to TÜV SÜD, TÜV Rheinland and Bureau Veritas is in preparation; the architecture is designed for conformity (see Research Ethics).
Advisory on crowd-dynamics analysis, three-outlier model, civil-liberties architecture, demarcation from SPOT and the Berlin three-stage model, and reference-case methodology.
Contributions in trade publications of the public sector (e.g. Behörden Spiegel) to communicate methodological content to practitioners.
What we do not do
Authorities cooperating with us can rely on the following properties:
Funding and consortium paths
Enquiries about third-party funding participation, consortium proposals, and commissioned research are actively considered. The pathways outlined below are the most natural points of attachment for collaboration.
Consortium build-up for the research line Safety in public spaces. Authority partners are structurally foreseen as end-user component. Outreach to research institutions in waves 2026/27.
Participation in European consortia in Disaster-Resilient Society, Protection of Critical Infrastructure, and Fighting Crime and Terrorism. Civil-liberties architecture as a methodological differentiator.
Application-oriented research and development funding — in particular ZIM for SME research, BMI and BBK lines on civil protection and internal security.
Interdisciplinary security and fundamental-rights research via Carl Zeiss Foundation, Volkswagen Foundation, and federal state innovation programmes.
Enquiries about further funding or cooperation formats — for instance institutional research partnerships or directly funded commissioned research — are explicitly welcome.
Inquiry process
The following four-step process has proven efficient and reliable for both sides:
Brief outline of the authority's question, the envisaged cooperation frame, and (if applicable) funding path. Designation of contact persons.
Confidential pre-briefing on research scope, civil-liberties architecture, and the methodological approach foreseen. NDA where needed.
Written agreement on research goal, data access, role distribution, research-clause basis, publication rights, and endpoints.
Joint funding proposal, consortium agreement, or — for smaller scope — direct research engagement.
Methodological standards
The first question before any cooperation concerns methodological robustness. The operational standards of our work are documented on a dedicated page: pre-registration of central documents via OpenTimestamps, replication material as a default part of every publication, external validation through peer review, notified-body pre-assessments and legal opinions, documented ablation studies, and data minimisation as a methodological decision. Funding bodies and research institutions will also find there the open methodological questions we name ourselves.
Legal and ethical framework
Prior to any operational phase, the documented framework applies: GDPR Art. 89 in conjunction with § 27 BDSG, AI Act (demarcation from Art. 5(1)(d), design for high-risk requirements under Annex III), freedom of assembly (BVerfGE 69, 315), and data minimisation. A Data Protection Impact Assessment under Art. 35 GDPR is conducted.
Contact for the public sector
For research and consortium inquiries from authorities, ministries, and public research bodies, please get in touch at the address below. Initial inquiries are typically answered within ten working days.
Send public-sector inquiry →More from this research
Three tracks, one core, a shared ethics foundation.