EUROFORGEN-NOE · EUROPEAN FORENSIC GENETICS Network of Excellence

The EUROFORGEN-NoE proposal aims to develop a network of excellence for the creation of a European Virtual Centre of Forensic Genetic Research. Forensic genetics is a highly innovative field of applied science with a strong impact on the security of citizens. However, the genetic methods to identify offenders as well as the creation of national DNA databases have caused concerns to the possible violation of privacy rights. Furthermore, studies to assess the societal dimension of security following the implementation of even more intrusive methods such as the genetic prediction of externally visible characteristics are highly relevant for their public acceptance. The network includes some of the leading groups in European forensic genetic research. It aims to create a closer integration of existing collaborations, as well as establishing new interactions in the field of security, as all key players are addressed: scientists, stakeholders, end-users, educational centres and scientific societies. Only if a long-term collaborative network can be established it will become possible to connect all scientific groups active in the field of forensic genetics, and to initiate a sustained effort covering all aspects of research. These efforts have to be combined with identifying and selecting the most innovative ideas to meet the challenges of analyzing biological crime scene samples compromised by degradation or indentified as mixtures of traces from multiple human sources. The proposal integrates five working packages. WP 1 is devoted to management and coordination. WP 2 will lead the activities aimed at the creation of the virtual centre of research. WP 3 will carry out exemplar projects as models of collaboration and integration of cutting edge research, later complemented by a competitive call for new research projects. The societal dimension of security as well as the ethical and legal aspects wil be addressed in WP 4, whereas WP 5 is devoted to education and training.