The special professorship in Digital Forensic Research demonstrates how digital forensic research has become a key component of criminal investigation. Increasingly, physical actions leave behind all kinds of digital traces on devices like smartphones and smartwatches.
In this inaugural lecture, special professor Jan Peter van Zandwijk demonstrates how this data—for example, steps, distances, floors, or heartbeat recordings—must be carefully validated before it can be used as evidence in court. Using practical examples, he clarifies the opportunities and pitfalls this technology offers, and why experimental research with a solid scientific foundation is crucial. He also outlines how the special professorship in Digital Forensic Research at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA), in close collaboration with the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI), brings together students, researchers, and professionals in communities of practice and multidisciplinary projects. He advocates for better interpretation of digital traces—focused on truth, guided by science, for a safer society.

The lecture "Physical Activities and Digital Traces From Recording to Interpretation" will take place in the Gerard van Haarlem Hall in the Jakoba Mulderhuis in Amsterdam (Rhijnspoorplein 2, Amsterdam) on Thursday February 12 at 16:00 hours. The lecture can also be followed via a livestream.

The Executive Board of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA) cordially invites you to attend this lecture live or online and, if you wish, to participate in the symposium preceding the lecture.

Please note: there are limited places available to attend the lecture live, so register quickly! You can register via this link.
You can also find the livestream there.

On behalf of the HvA: We look forward to meeting you in there!