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What is forensic science?
Forensic science is the profession of finding and analysing evidence which could be crucial in the outcome of criminal cases. It involves a lot of lab work, testing things like hair and clothing fibres, body fluids, glass, explosives, and drugs, and requires visiting recent crime scenes to observe the location and collect samples. Forensic scientists write detailed reports of their findings, which are used in the prosecution or defence of criminal cases. Sometimes, forensic scientists need to testify in course as an expert witness. If you have a strong stomach and a stronger sense of justice, then it can be an exciting and rewarding career choice.
Read more about studying forensic science at uni.
Reasons to study forensic science
1. The skills you’ll learn
There are many different types of skills which the job of a forensic scientist requires. A lot of these skills are relevant to the large amount of lab work which takes place, and many of these will be developed during your degree. You’ll learn how to operate and maintain many different types of equipment and conduct chemical tests to identify a range of substances and materials. You'll need to be able to read graphs, charts, and many types of quantitative scientific data, and interpret them in terms of each individual circumstance. You'll need to know how to write detailed lab reports using a particular style of scientific language, and you'll definitely need to be able to communicate scientific information to police law enforcement, and other non-scientists.
Communication, time-management, and attention to detail are all essential soft skills which you will pick up as you study. Teamwork skills are also useful, since you will be working as part of an interdisciplinary unit.
2. The career you could have
There are many applications for a graduate with forensic science training. The most usual one is to find a position within a police detective organisation which runs a forensic laboratory. Once you’ve settled into the job, there will be opportunities to specialise in a number of roles, for example DNA analyst, ballistics expert, biomedical chemist, crime scene investigator, forensic toxicologist, digital forensics expert, and many more. These each deal with a specific area of forensic science, and many also be useful outside law enforcement and criminal justice. For example, any discipline which uses science to find out about something that has already happened can benefit from having a forensics expert on the team. This can include forensic archaeology and forensic anthropology, which apply similar processes to much larger timescales.
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3. All the topics that get covered
There’s a diversity of topics which are covered in a forensic science degree. Some of them are analytical chemistry and biology, fingerprinting, statistics, crime scene procedure, bodies tissue and fluids, issues in criminal justice, examining evidence, case studies, and report-writing.
At most universities, the course delivery will be a balance of theory and practice, with a significant amount of lab work and field work included in the curriculum.
4. You can study all over the UK
There are more than 70 universities in the UK which offer forensic science degrees, so wherever you wish to be based, you’ll have no problem finding a course near you. According to Complete University Guide, the three top ranked courses in the UK are at:
The top three universities based on for student satisfaction are:
Check out the full forensic science league table from Complete University Guide.
5. It’s something you enjoy!
For those who like getting stuck into a good puzzle and can spend hours and hours concentrating on the smallest of problems, forensic science could be a strong positive match. It’s a critically important part of our criminal justice system, and the sense of satisfaction you can feel when a case is resolved can be immense.
Can you see yourself as a forensic scientist? Start searching for courses right away!
