Forensic anthropology serves the investigative and judicial communities by analysing human remains for medicolegal purposes. This is a specialised area of science that requires detailed anatomical and osteological vocational training.

Forensic anthropology has adopted a pivotal role in both UK and International investigations being core to issues of repatriation, mass disasters and war crimes.

What is unique about forensic anthropology at dundee?

• The University of Dundee is the only UK institution to offer study progression from undergraduate to doctoral level in this subject. The Forensic Anthropology degree provides the first stage in the Forensic Anthropology Career Path offered by this University.
• A complex subject such as human identification requires the multidisciplinary approach that is available at Dundee through free collaboration with many other fields of research and training including orthopaedics, odontology, radiography, zoology, botany, law, and image analysis.
• Teaching staff delivering the course have national and international reputations, and several have practical experience of working in conflict zones including Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Iraq.
• DVI (Disaster Victim Identification). The University of Dundee is responsible for training the UK police forces for deployment as part of the UKDVI team in mass fatality incidents worldwide.
• Specialist teaching is undertaken by registered forensic practitioners.

The degree course

This 4 year degree is unique in that it combines specialist teaching in forensic anthropology with the detailed study of human anatomy, much of it practically based. Graduates with this degree will become competent in functional anatomy, dissection techniques, human and non-human skeletal identification and analysis, human tissue imaging, bone biosciences, the use of appropriate instrumentation, and the critical analysis of current research in forensicanthropology and human identification.

The first two years of the degree provide a general introduction to the life sciences through an integrated study programme which remains broadly-based and multidisciplinary covering topics such as genetics, comparative physiology, and human form and function. The third year focuses on the gross anatomy of the human body, combining dissection with comparative osteology and developmental juvenile osteology. The fourth year is dedicated to forensic anthropological techniques and covers topics such as age and sex determination from human remains, biological identity, personal identification, pathology & trauma, taphonomy & timedeath interval, the judiciary & the legal system, evidential quality & quantification, and the role of the expert witness.

It is possible to study for the degree in 3 years if you have the required grades and subjects.