Master of Science in Cognitive Forensic Sciences

First-year

First semester

• Forensic decision-making - Epistemology and Professional Ethic
• Fundamental Criminal Law
• Principle of Criminal Procedural Law and International Criminal Law
• Memory - Eyewitness Testimony and Emotion Psychology

Second semester

• Mathematical Models for Criminal Analysis
• Memory - Eyewitness Testimony and Emotion Psychology
• Criminology and Victimology
• Other training activities
• Principle of Criminal Procedural Law and International Criminal Law

Second year

First semester

• Forensic Psychopathology
• One module is chosen by the student

Second semester

• Forensic Neuropsychology and Research Methods
• Forensic Genetics and Lab
• Forensic chemistry
• Final thesis

Learning outcomes

In line with the aims of the LM-55 Cognitive Sciences class, the master's degree course in Cognitive Forensic Sciences intends to provide its graduates with advanced and multidisciplinary training (psychological, legal, philosophical, neuroscientific, methodological, and modeling on possible applications and technological developments) on the topics of cognitive sciences applied to the legal-forensic context. The training objectives make particular reference to the development of theoretical and applied knowledge that outlines a professional figure capable of providing interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary skills that lead to an overall and integrated vision of the criminal event. This vision is strongly necessary in a field in which important technical-scientific advances risk making the integrated analysis of the different sources of evidence difficult and more difficult to avoid incurring errors linked to how judgment processes take place which can produce serious consequences, both for the individual and for the community.

The architecture of the Master's Degree Course includes courses that will provide the basic knowledge that characterizes the Cognitive Sciences applied to the forensic context (e.g., Victimology and Emotion Psychology (M-PSI/01), Criminology (SPS/07), Psychology of Deviance (M-PSI/01), Epistemology and Professional Ethics, (M-PSI/01), Mathematical Models for Criminal Analysis (MAT/05, 01/A3). There are also courses on more specific topics such as decision-making mechanisms applied to the forensic field (Forensic decision-making, M-PSI/01), memory mechanisms in the forensic field (Memory and Eyewitness Testimony, M-PSI/01), Forensic Genetics (Forensic Genetics, BIO/18), Forensic Medicine (Forensic Psychopathology, MED-43), and Forensic Chemistry (CHIM/06). Finally, courses are planned that will provide indispensable knowledge of Law, in particular of Criminal Law (Fundamental Criminal Law, Principle of Criminal Procedural Law, International Criminal Law, IUS/16, IUS/17).

The optional courses activated to complete the training offer, allowing students to outline a training path consistent with their professional interests. In particular, the course Cognition and Emotion in Forensic Science: From Genes to Behavior (M-PSI/01) will allow students to delve deeper into the complex, and extremely relevant from a forensic point of view, relationship between genetics and behavior. Instead, the Forensic Neuropsychology course (M-PSI/02) will allow students to critically deepen current knowledge on the functional neurophysiological determinants of human behavior, which in recent years has been the subject of great attention in the forensic field.

The training architecture as a whole offers the necessary knowledge for the application of analysis, evaluation, and planning tools. Skills will be transferred with a focus on procedural knowledge and attention to verification.

Finally, the Master's Degree Course also intends to provide knowledge on the ethical and deontological principles of the profession, knowledge on data management, on privacy, guaranteeing the possibility for students to attend specific elective courses to be chosen from those already present in the University.

The teaching regulations of the degree course define, in compliance with regulatory limits, the portion of the overall hourly commitment available to the student for personal study or other individual training activities.

The forensic cognitive science expert can work as a freelancer or be employed by an employer. It operates in the legal and forensic sector: during criminal proceedings on behalf of a lawyer or a magistrate, in prison institutions and surveillance or juvenile courts, in local authorities or projects aimed at crime prevention, support to the victims of violence, and the safety of the citizen.