From gunshot residue to minute traces of DNA and minuscule fibres. Thanks to new methods of analysis, it is now possible to detect even the smallest traces left behind at a crime scene or carried away by the suspect. What can this tiny, often hard-to-detect trace evidence tell us about the precise details of an event? This is the central question of the Forensic Trace Dynamics research group at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.
After a crime, traces often remain at a crime scene. These can play an important role in the detection and prosecution of crimes. How can we improve searching, finding, selecting and securing them? That is the focus of the No Trace to Waste project.
Wherever people go, they leave biological traces of their presence. Some people, however, seem to consistently leave a smaller biological footprint than others. The Forensic Traces of Individual Variation project examines the causes, scope and factors.
How to improve decision-making in forensic investigations, making it more knowledge-driven, harmonised and transparent? That's the focus of the Knowledge-driven decision-making project.
Bas Kokshoorn is a Principal Scientist at the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) and a forensic expert in the field of human biological traces. He is also a professor by special appointment at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.
Christianne de Poot has been Professor of Forensic Research at the AUAS and the Police Academy since 2010. She is also Professor of Criminology at the Free University Amsterdam and a member of the Board of the Dutch Register of Judicial Experts.
Jan Peter van Zandwijk has been a special professor of Digital Forensics at the AUAS since late 2024. He joined the Digital and Biometrics Traces division of the Netherlands Forensic Institute in 2011, combining investigative work in criminal cases with case-related R&D and knowledge transfer within the criminal justice chain.
