Forensic & Investigative Sciences

Forensic science is well-established as a discipline at our University. We collaborate with many different investigative organisations including police forces and fire and rescue services, other universities and various forensic analytical services and companies. We have strong relationships with our partners and this allows us to explore, diagnose, understand and develop areas of knowledge to improve the many aspects of forensic and investigative sciences used in court.

You will be joining the Forensic and Investigative Sciences Research Group, members of which include practitioners, consultants, professionals from the field and current researchers within chemical and biological forensic analysis, evidential scene analysis and interpretation.

We have a multidisciplinary academic team ready to support you in your research, working across several research areas within the Forensic and Investigative Sciences Research Group including:

• Crime Scene and Evidence
• Forensic Analysis
• Genetics
• Pedagogy

These research areas explore specialisms in crime scene examination, evidence processing and recovery, scene investigation, standard operating procedures in crime scene practice and issues of crime scene contamination such as fingermark visualisation, fire investigation, forensic medicine and pathology and archaeology. We also explore the chemical and biological analytical aspects of forensic science including evidence recovery methods, extraction of analytes from difficult and unusual matrices and the development and improvement of analytical methods for forensic samples.

Our up-to-date analytical equipment includes advanced optical and electron microscopes, IR, Raman and X-ray spectrometers, GC-MS, GC, ion chromatography, HPLC, AAS, ICP-OES and XRD, and a stable isotope facility.

There will be opportunities to present your work and represent us at internal, national and international scientific conferences, and you will be fully immersed in the group’s research activities. We also encourage cross-discipline interaction with other research groups in our University.

In addition to our Forensic Science PhD, we've also identified a range of innovative research project opportunities for you as a postgraduate researcher.