PhD project in police lab
10 December 2018
As of 1 January 2019, HIMS scientists will start a collaboration with the forensic experts of the Amsterdam Police. The aim of the collaboration is to provide accurate and valuable chemical information in criminal investigations, provide intelligence on the production of illicit drugs, and offer options for rapid and robust chemical field analysis of drug samples.
Ruben Kranenburg, analytical chemist and coordinator of the laboratory for illicit drug analysis of the Amsterdam Police, will be appointed as a PhD student in a 4-year project to develop new methods and techniques for the chemical characterization of illicit drugs. The project will be executed in the research group of Arian van Asten, professor in Forensic Analytical Chemistry and On-scene Chemical Analysis at the UvA and co-director of the Co van Ledden Hulsebosch Center (CLHC). Kranenburg will combine his PhD research with his regular job with the Amsterdam Police.
As part of the collaboration, special internships in the police laboratory will become available for students in the UvA Master’s programme in Forensic Science. Additionally, literature thesis assignments will be linked to the project. The initiative is part of the national policy of the Dutch police to increase its capacity for innovation and promote the scientific development of its employees. This project may lead to a broader collaboration in forensic science and education between the Amsterdam Police and the UvA.
The CLHC is named after forensic pioneer and Amsterdam pharmacist Co van Ledden Hulsebosch. The Amsterdam police appointed him forensic scientist in 1920 and he established the first forensic police laboratory in Amsterdam.