SCHOOL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE (ESC)

Provides the first university forensic training in the world

Founded in 1909 in Lausanne by Rodolphe Archibald Reiss, the School of Criminal Sciences is integrated in the Faculty of Law, Criminal Sciences and Public Administration of the University of Lausanne.

Characteristic: The ESC offers complete courses to obtain Bachelor, Master and PhD degrees in forensic science and criminology.

BACHELOR

Scientific, complex and interdisciplinary courses, both practical and theoretical.

The oldest complete forensic course in the world, it is the only Bachelor of this kind taught in Europe to date.

This training is located at the crossroads of basic sciences (mathematics, physics, chemistry), law, humanities with criminology, medicine and forensic science.

It provides a solid base knowledge for crime scene investigators.

The particularity of this education lies not only in its practical teaching through real-life situations, but also in its generalist approach to solving complex problems.

MASTER

Specialisation in a targeted field: 7 Masters connected with criminal sciences.

The Masters in the field of criminal sciences allow criminalists to specialise in a specific field:

Master of Science (MSc) in Forensic Science, orientation Physical Identification (more info)
MSc in Forensic Science, orientation Chemical Criminalistics (more info)
MSc in Forensic Science, orientation Digital Investigation and Identification (more info)
MSc in Traceology and Crime Analysis (more info)
Master of Law (ML) in Criminology and Security (more info)
ML in the Legal Professions (more info)
ML in Legal Issues, Crime and Security of Information Technologies (more info)

DOCTORATE

Specific research in Forensic Science and / or Criminology.

Doctorate research aims to explore new fields of research in Criminal Sciences, in the framework of in-depth, personal and unpublished studies:

Doctorate in Forensic Science (PhD) (more info)
Doctorate in Criminology (PhD) (more info)

THE DIFFERENT ROLES
OF THE FORENSIC SCIENTIST

IN THREE STEPS

MORE
INFORMATION

Criminal science

What is criminal science?

Criminal Sciences cover an interdisciplinary approach to crime (law, science and medicine, human and technical sciences).

The School of Criminal Sciences (ESC) is unique in the specific combination of Criminology (human science) and Forensic Science (experimental and historical science).

Difference between
police science, criminalistics
and forensic science

Difference betweeen police science, criminalistics and forensic science

Although often considered as synonyms, these terms are distinguished by their practical dimension:

Police science: on-site intervention integrated into a police force
Criminalistics: technical work preformed in laboratory on traces related to the criminal investigation
Forensic science: this science encompasses the first two dimensions but also includes medico-legal aspects as well as the resolution of problems or litigation in areas other than criminal area (civil, administrative, regulation, arbitration), as well as forensic expertise.

Difference between
criminalist and
criminologist

Difference between criminalist and criminologist

Criminology represents the study of the criminal phenomenon and its understanding through various dimensions in the human sciences, while forensic science focuses on the technical analysis of traces of crime. If the term criminology is often used to refer to criminalistics, it is due to the fact that the term forensic is not as well known and widespread as its sociological counterpart.

Criminalistics, which also focuses on the criminal phenomenon, uses material remains (for example fingerprints, traces of soles, DNA, fibers, etc.) resulting from criminal activities, and provides information in the form of clues, evidence or intelligence that can be useful to the investigation and the court.