Course description
MSc Forensic Reconstruction and Simulation
This course concentrates on the use of computers and allied technology in crime and the investigation of crime.
More information
Stage 1
Introduction and Professional Studies
This module is designed to introduce you to the issues related to studying beyond undergraduate level. It applies to students on taught postgraduate courses and those who are embarking on a programme of research. The module encompasses issues such as enrolment, health and safety, using Blackboard, report writing and referencing, ethics, plagiarism, time management and numerical techniques. You will also examine discipline specific areas pertinent to your pathway, which will offer you a particular grounding, skills base or understanding required at the early stage of your study. You will be introduced to personal development planning, by keeping a formal log book.
Principles of Crime Scene Science
The module uses a case scenario to introduce to the principles of crime scene science and provides you with an understanding of the methodologies associated with recovering physical evidence.
Scene Recording and Imaging
This module introduces you to using scene recording and imaging in support of forensic investigation. It also provides you with an introduction to the procedures, processes, practices and techniques that are involved in recording crime scenes that may be subject to forensic investigation. It covers the importance of accurate scene recording to proper scene interpretation and reconstruction, recognising the different uses to which scene recording may be put in support of the various stages of an investigation from the earliest stages right through to court. You are introduced to the tools available to support recording and imaging, enabling you to develop the practical skills associated with the subject to back up your theoretical knowledge.
Stage 2
Image Processing and Analysis
This module provides you with an understanding of image processing, enhancement and analysis techniques used in investigating crime.
Legal Issues and Evidence Reporting
This module explores the legal and procedural contexts in which forensic science operates, providing you with opportunities to develop skills and knowledge relevant to the gathering, examination and presentation of evidence in a range of situations.
Forensic Visualisation
This module provides knowledge of visual techniques and the products of visual systems that support the investigation of crime, including the study of image enhancement and manipulation techniques of pre-existing images such as those derived from CCTV. It also examines how these techniques can be used as an aid to investigation. You will also consider the use of visualisation techniques to produce images from descriptive information. You will also study the value and limitations of the products of the various methodologies with particular reference to interpretation and evidential value.
Stage 3
Research Project
This is the culmination of the programme of studies. You will undertake a challenging problem related substantially to your discipline. The project is linked where possible to an industrial or external partner organisation, which may even host your work and substantially direct the activity. Where this is not possible, a real or simulated real problem may be chosen as subject for the work. It is, however, expected that even where the problem is simulated or hypothetical, it will be treated as if real. The project outcomes project should be at a publishable standard.
Course structure
Specialist modules focus on the use of computers in crime and the recovery and analysis of evidence from computers and other digital devices, forensic visualisation, and scene recording and imaging. You'll carry out a range of analytical work in computing and science laboratories, and undertake practical work in the University's 30-room Crime Scene House Laboratory.
Careers
Typically graduates work in the field of forensic science and forensic investigation, with both 'traditional' forensic science providers and specialist providers of forensic computing and imaging services. Employment opportunities also exist with the police and a wide range of law enforcement agencies.
Industrial experience
On each master's degree you'll complete a project related to professional practice. This, along with the involvement of practitioners and academics in the delivery of these courses, ensures that they are relevant to the requirements of the criminal justice system.
Intermediate awards
Our master's degrees can lead to the award of a postgraduate certificate at Stage 1 (60 credits - 3 modules), a postgraduate diploma at Stage 2 (120 credits - 6 modules) or, on completion of a research project, the MSc.
Block release study
Our master's degrees are available on a block-release basis: you'll study for one week between 9.00am and 6.00pm with follow-up days in the next four weeks and accompanying assignment work.
