Mini-symposium “Inferring activities from forensic traces”
On Thursday afternoon 13 November 2025, the NFI organises a half-day Symposium on Evidence Evaluation at the NFI in The Hague.

Evaluating forensic evidence concerning the question “what is the source of this trace?” is part of the standard caseload of many forensic scientists.  There is a growing awareness that forensic scientists can/should also address the follow-up question: “which activity led to this combination of traces?” This symposium presents the current practice at NFI and Australia, future developments, and a legal view on this topic.

Speakers and topics

• Dr. Duncan Taylor (FSSA en Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia): Activity level reporting and research in Australia

• Dr. Marouschka Vink (NFI and UvA): the use of Bayesian Networks for activity level evaluations
• Activity level reporting and research at NFI:
  • Dr. Peter Zoon (NFI) : glass
  • Irene van Damme, MSc. (NFI and UvA): explosives
  • Dr. Jan Peter van Zandwijk (NFI and HvA): digital investigation
  • Dr. Bas Kokshoorn (NFI and HvA): DNA
• Mr. Diederik Aben (Parket Hoge Raad): a legal view on activity level evaluations

Target group
Judges, prosecutors, law enforcement and (forensic) scientists

Date and duration
Date
13 November 2025

Duration
Afternoon: 13:00-17:15 h

Location
Online, by MS Teams

Number of participants
50-90 persons

Costs
No costs / free