ProfessorShiri Krebs

I am a Professor of Law at Deakin University and the Director of the Centre for Law as Protection – an interdisciplinary research Centre dedicated to the protection of people, animals, and the environment from a variety of human and non-human threats. I am also an affiliate scholar at Stanford University Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC).

In 2024, I was appointed as a Visiting Legal Fellow at the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), where I benefit from the unique opportunity to share insights from my research with Government. Until recently, I served as the elected Chair of the ASIL Lieber Society on the Law of Armed Conflict (2022-2025) and as Co-lead of the Law and Policy Theme at the Australian Government Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre (CSCRC) (2021-2024). 

My research is currently funded by several competitive national and international research grants, including a 3-year Australian Research Council (ARC) DECRA fellowship and an Alexander von Humboldt Experienced Researcher Fellowship at the University of Hamburg, Germany.

In my research, I utilise empirical tools to improve human-machine interaction in legal processes, including in the context of surveillance technologies and drone warfare. I am a trained interdisciplinary scholar, with dual qualifications in law and international relations, and my work incorporates both quantitative and qualitative methods, including experiments, surveys, content analysis, and interviews.

Several of my research projects – on international fact-finding, biases in counterterrorism decision-making, and human-machine interaction in drone warfare – have influenced decision-making processes through invitations to brief high-level decision-makers, including at the United Nations (CTED, Office of the Secretary-General), the United States Department of Defense, the German Military Leadership Academy, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

The most recent research awards recognising the contribution of my scholarship include the David Caron Prize (American Society of International Law, 2021), the ‘Researcher of the Year’ Award (Australian Women in Law Awards, 2022), the Australian Legal Research Awards (finalist, Article/Chapter (ECR), 2022), and the Vice-Chancellor’s Researcher Award for Career Excellence (Deakin, 2022).

Before joining Deakin University, I taught in several law schools, including at Stanford University, University of Santa Clara, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where I won the Dean’s award recognising exceptional junior faculty members.

I earned my Doctorate and Master Degrees in the Science of Law from Stanford Law School (in 2017 and 2012, respectively). I completed my Master and Bachelor Degrees in Law and International Relations – all magna cum laude – from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (in 2008 and 2005).