Supervisors: Shun Ishihara and Yuko Kinoshita

Forensic text comparison (FTC) typically compares two sets of texts: one is from the offender and the other from the suspect, in order to assist the fact-finders (e.g. juries and judges) to conclude the case. The summer scholar will work as a member of the forensics team and gain experience in analysing textual evidence and interpreting the analysis, by contributing to empirical studies on FTC. The summer scholar will also acquire the relevant fundamental knowledge of forensic science. Depending on the student’s skills and research interests, other academics may be involved in supervision. Tasks may be related to the following topics:

• System validation

• System accuracy and precision

• Neural features

• Algorithm implementations

• Database compilations

• Linguistic nature of individuality in writing style

• FTC in a language other than English

Some topics require good coding skills and knowledge in natural language processing. This project is part of a big project, aiming at building a demonstrably-reliable FTC. The scholar will be able to address challenges in FTC and formulate research questions to be possibly tackled as an Honours, Masters or PhD project.

Contact shunichi.ishihara@anu.edu.au if you have any questions.