Research Focus

Digitalization of forensic casework

The group is concerned with the development and application of scientific computer-oriented methods to support the investigating authorities' casework. Digital reconstructions of crime scenes and facial soft tissue for the identification of unknown dead bodies (GWR), as well as the analysis and evaluation of digital image, video and audio material form the core of the work. The questions posed and to be clarified by the investigating authorities in this context must be answered quantitatively and an expert opinion provided. This also includes the reproduction of possible circumstances and the simulation of movement sequences of different objects, such as people, cars, etc., on the basis of physical models. The group works closely with police investigating authorities from all over Germany.

Our Expertise

Research Field	Contents
3D crime scene reconstruction	Detailed reproduction of crime scenes Preparation of terrestrial 3D laser scans 3D crime scene simulation Support for forensic casework by police and criminal investigation institutions
3D crime scene simulation	Reproduction and simulation of possible biomechanical movement sequences with spatial reference Mapping physical processes in 3D crime scene models
Facial soft tissue reconstruction	Computer-oriented identification of unknown deceased based on the reconstruction of specific facial soft tissues
Image and video analysis	Development and application of computer-oriented methods for the analysis and evaluation of digital image and video material Answering case-relevant questions on a quantitative basis

Forensic Biology

The group's field of activity essentially comprises the generation of case-realistic data under laboratory conditions and their computer-aided evaluation. Various biological characteristics and/or traces are evaluated and assessed with regard to their relevance for forensic questions. The aim is to identify approaches for reconstructing the course of a crime or for identifying a person (perpetrator, victim) based on biological traces and/or characteristics.

Our expertise

Research Field	Contents
Anthropology	Analysis of skeletal material Analysis of the human musculoskeletal system
Dactyloscopy	Analysis of fingerprints Identification and verification of persons
Blood pattern analysis	Evaluation of blood traces and patterns Classification of bloodstains and patterns in a possible course of events
Bioinformatics	Digital analysis of (forensic) biological data Proper and professional presentation of data

Forensic Text Mining

The group investigates special phenomena in the field of mobile communication and social networks and their detection. Together with cooperation partners in the police and public prosecutor's office, analysis solutions are developed for the challenges of modern forensics in the area of big data. Artificial intelligence approaches are combined with available investigative knowledge and made available in highly flexible analysis platforms.

Our Expertise

Research Field	Contents
Analysis of mobile communication data	Development of the analysis platform MoNA (Link) Extraction and analysis of communication networks Semantic analysis of text, audio and image data Recognition of sublanguages
Analysis of social networks	Development of the analysis platform SoNA Detection of opinions and trends in (political) networks Development of an artificial immune system for social networks Prediction of events based on communication in social networks Detection of opinion leaders/influencers Detection of special phenomena such as hate speech or fake news Predicting the significance and development of political networks
Forensic text information management	Development of the e-mail analysis platform SeMEx Development of the forensic text analysis platform SemanTA Development of forensic knowledge representations Development of algorithms for the automatic generation of knowledge maps from forensic text data Development of forensic search technologies