About us
Profile
The Department of Forensic Medicine was founded in 1959 as an independent department of Aarhus University. We employ around eighty people with many different educational backgrounds and professional skills. The Department is divided into two sections: a section for forensic chemistry and a forensic medicine section.
Our primary task is to prevent crime, accidents, premature death and suicide, which we do through forensic examinations, teaching and research. As part of Aarhus University, the Department of Forensic Medicine contributes to the development of society by creating and sharing knowledge at the highest international level. In addition, the Department’s expertise and facilities provide the basis for a large network of interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaborations.
Public-sector consultancy
The department is an important part of the Danish legal system and provides impartial, research-based public sector consultancy for the police districts of East Jutland, South-East Jutland, Northern Jutland, and Central and Western Jutland. We also collaborate with many other Danish and foreign authorities, as well as private companies.
Amongst other things, we carry out:
- Forensic autopsies
- Crime scene examinations, with associated forensic inquests
- Forensic chemistry investigations
- Personal studies (clinical forensic medicine).
Clinical forensic examinations take place at the Department itself or at the Department’s regional branches for clinical forensic medicine in Herning, Aalborg Kolding and Aarhus. The Department of Forensic Medicine examines the victims of violent and sexual crimes, regardless of age, as well as the accused in criminal cases.
Department head
More about the department
Our research is interdisciplinary, and is divided into three areas: We conduct research into bioanalytical chemistry, forensic chemistry and forensic toxicology; we conduct research into violence and sexual abuse among children, young people and adults; and we conduct research into forensic imaging and osteology.
We train medical specialists in forensic medicine and instruct medical students in forensic pathology, forensic toxicology and clinical forensic medicine. We offer courses of continuing and further education in forensic medicine, forensic chemistry and forensic dentistry to various target groups.
Core facilities
The Department of Forensic Medicine possesses facilities for whole-body CT scanning, contrast pumps for angiography, digital X-ray facilities, a hard tissue laboratory and a laboratory for anthropological analyses. We also have a well-equipped analysis laboratory for measuring pharmaceuticals, abuse substances and other small molecules in biological samples, as well as facilities for chemical and molecular-biological experiments.
