NATURAL TRACES is focused on the cutting-edge analysis of non-human biological traces in forensics. This Marie Skłodowska-Curie program brings together academia, state forensic laboratories, scientific police forces across Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Spain, UK, and Argentina to train 10 PhD candidates.

The PhD challenge will be:
While microbiome analysis holds immense potential for forensic science (from identifying locations to linking individuals), current informatics and statistical methods are limited in handling the vast amounts of data. With this workplan, NATURAL TRACES proposes a path forward by leveraging cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and Bayesian Analysis to develop novel algorithms and software for comparing complex microbiome data and addressing the issue of mixtures. We will utilize diverse datasets, including eDNA, soil, and macroscopic traces, and even generate synthetic data with GANs to overcome current limitations and unlock the power of the "forensic microbiome."

Are you interested in applying, see here or for more info see: NaturalTraces!