If you’re a student currently studying for a PhD in forensic science, you’ll need to write a dissertation in your area of study to graduate and earn your masters. That’s why it’s important to look at some forensic science dissertation topics to help you find an area to investigate further in your research.
Forensic science is an area of study that focuses on the application of science to civil and criminal law during criminal investigation. As a forensics student, you’ll learn how to examine traces of material evidence to determine what exactly occurred. Also, the study involves the presentation of impartial scientific evidence that the authorities can use in court.
Our guide to choosing dissertation topics, even for the field of forensic, remains unchanged. Choose an interesting topic, but one that you can explore within the scope or research constraints of the project.
With that said, let’s look at some interesting topics that you can start to explore right away.
Forensic Science Dissertation Topics
Here are some interesting forensic dissertation topics that are likely to catch your professor’s attention. Pick any of the topic depending on the selection criteria we’ve shared with you and present it to your supervisor for review.
1. General Issues in Forensic Studies
We can define forensic science as the application of scientific procedures such as data gathering, testing, and observation to discover how historical events occurred with the goal of generating unbiased evidence in a court of law.
Formally, the term forensic referred to public gathering spaces where individuals assembled to talk about criminal matters. Defendants would utilize these venues to testify in front of a court about their innocence. There has been an evolution to the term, which now refers to the act of collecting of legal evidence that the people involved in a case can produce in a court.
Notably, forensic science also involves the application of scientific and empirical methodologies to falsify or verify evidence to determine the trustworthiness of a case.
Some dissertation topics that you can research further in this category are as follows:
- Is there uniformity in forensic services across England because of the unification of England’s police forces?
- An evaluation of the efficiency of dry vacuuming approach to retrieve DNA from handwritten papers
- Identification of the effects of microwave radiation on protein digestion in bodily fluids
- Examine keystroke biometrics’ potential as a forensic technique for user profiling.
- Examine the effectiveness of applying gene expression approaches to examine aging injuries and injury age assessment
- An examination of the evidence linked to arsonists’ clothing that has suffered superficial heat damage
- Environmental pollen analysis as a method for detecting counterfeit cigarettes
Also Read: How to Reference a Dissertation Project
2. Ethical Issues
In contrast to trade-based occupations, forensic science is controlled by a self-imposed ethical code of conduct that all practitioners must follow.
The following are examples of great topics that you can explore in your dissertation project, if you decide to do a forensic project on ethical issues:
- Examine the argument that outsourcing forensic scientific work to private contractors in the United Kingdom has resulted in a drop in quality.
- What influence is the growing employment of private forensic consultants, who may not be bound by the same disciplinary rules as regular forensic consultants, having on the field of forensic science?
- What ethical issues do you see with DNA sample collecting, storage, access, retention, and sharing right now?
- To what degree is it an ethical dilemma for forensic science to utilize genetic research results to assign ethnic and racial designations to samples found at a crime scene?
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3. Current and Emerging Issues in Forensic Science
The ways in which crimes are committed and investigated are evolving because of technological advancements and society’s growing reliance on technology. The globe is on the verge of a slew of new technologies that will open up new avenues for criminals while also posing new obstacles for law enforcement.
The most prominent example is the threat posed by cybercrime. Other technologies, such as artificial intelligence and blockchain, are examples of completely new fields that will bring dramatic change in forensic investigation.
Some topics you can explore in this category are as follows:
- Examine the effectiveness of USB devices and remote monitoring software in controlling sex offenders’ computer usage.
- In light of globally accepted legal norms, examine the most often utilized approaches in forensic bitcoin investigations.
- What are the applications of Deep Learning, a subset of Artificial Intelligence, in cyber-forensics?
- What are the forensic issues posed by the Internet of Things and its increased criminal potential?
- What are the benefits of using blockchain technology to aid digital forensics?
- Examine the use of forensic science in analyzing the usage of cryptocurrency payment flows in a variety of criminal activities.
- How well equipped is forensic science for technological advancements and, by extension, technology-enabled crime?
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4. Brexit
Brexit has had and continues to have a significant influence on the British economy and society. The growth of police and judicial cooperation in the EU has helped the United Kingdom. These have included participation in Europol, the EU’s arrest warrant, and the exchange of forensic data. These advantages have been in the field of forensic science, notably in terms of scientific funding and collaboration with EU research initiatives.
One of the most pressing questions is how the UK’s criminal justice system and forensic science, in particular, can cope now that the UK is no longer a member of the EU.
Here are some of the best dissertation topics to consider following the present Brexit issue:
- Examine the impact of the United Kingdom’s absence from European research programs on UK forensic science and technology institutes’ worldwide reach.
- In light of UK policing and criminal justice opt-outs, assess the possibility of a shared European ballistics database.
- Examine the implications of Brexit on the sharing of forensic data with the European Union.
- What influence will Brexit have on other advances that are currently reshaping UK forensic science skills and capacities, such as digital, cyber forensic technologies, and the use of AI in forensic settings?
- To what degree is Brexit going to jeopardize UK forensic science’s long-term viability?