The mission of the Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics is to improve the delivery of justice through the analysis of language.
We are one of four Aston University Research Institutes. We study forensic texts and contexts producing academically rigorous, high impact research using insights and methods from diverse areas of linguistics to improve the delivery of justice.
The Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics (AIFL) was founded in 2019. It is a substantial expansion of the former Aston Centre for Forensic Linguistics, which was founded in 2008. In the autumn of 2019 we appointed a total of 15 new staff to establish the Institute. This expansion was funded via a £6M investment including a £5.4M award from Research England’s Expanding Excellence in England (E3) fund.
E-mail: forensiclinguistics@aston.ac.uk
Research
Continuous Professional Development
We are organised in the following centres
Our People
- Institute Members
Dr Sarah Atkins
Research and Teaching Fellow
Email: s.atkins@aston.ac.ukFiona KelcherTeaching FellowEmail: kelcherf@aston.ac.ukDr Lucia Busso
Research Associate in Forensic Linguistics
Email: l.busso@aston.ac.ukDr Krzysztof Kredens
Director of the Centre for Forensic Text Analysis
Email: k.j.kredens@aston.ac.ukDr Emily Chiang
Research Associate in Forensic Linguistics
Email: e.chiang2@aston.ac.ukDr Stefanie Kreibich
Operations Manager
Email: s.kreibich@aston.ac.ukProf Malcom Coulthard
Chair of Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics Advisory Board
Email: r.m.coulthard@aston.ac.ukDr Nicci MacLeod
Senior Lecturer in Forensic Linguistics
Email: n.macleod5@aston.ac.ukDr Andrea Mojedano Batel
Research Associate in Forensic Linguistics
Email: a.mojedanobatel@aston.ac.ukProf Lauren Devine
Director of the Centre for Language and Law
Email: l.devine@aston.ac.ukDr Geoffrey Stewart Morrison
Director of the Forensic Speech Science Laboratory
Email: g.s.morrison@aston.ac.ukProf Tim Grant
Director of the Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics
Email: t.d.grant@aston.ac.ukDr Ralph Morton
Research Associate in Forensic Linguistics
Email: r.morton2@aston.ac.ukDr Kate Haworth
Director of the Centre for Spoken Interaction in Legal Contexts
Email: k.haworth@aston.ac.ukDr Márton Petykó
Research Associate in Forensic Linguistics
Email: m.petyko@aston.ac.ukDr Annina Heini
Research Associate in Forensic Linguistics
Email: a.heini14@aston.ac.ukDr Tahmineh Tayebi
Lecturer in Forensic Linguistics
Email: t.tayebi@aston.ac.ukDr Madison Hunter
Research Assistant in Forensic Linguistics
Email: m.hunter5@aston.ac.ukDr Philip Weber
Lecturer in Forensic Data Science
Email: p.weber1@aston.ac.uk- Honorary and Adjunct Members
Mitchell Abrams
Visiting AIFL Researcher
Email: 190205803@aston.ac.uk
FTADr Ewald Enzinger
Senior Research Engineer Eduworks Corporation
FSSLDr Ria Perkins
Email: r.perkins@aston.ac.uk
FTADr Isabel Picornell
Director, QED Forensic Linguistics Ltd
Email: isabel@qedforensics.com
FTA, SILCDr Claudia Rosas
Instituto de Lingüística y Literatura, Universidad Austral de Chile
FSSLProf Yaron MatrasHonorary Professor, Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics, School of Social SciencesEmail:y.matras@aston.ac.ukPersonal website: yaronmatras.orgFTADr Juliette ScottLegal Translation Practitioner, Researcher & ConsultantEmail: juliette.scott@tiscali.co.ukCLLProf Cuiling Zhang
School of Criminal Investigation, Southwest University of Political Science and Law
FSSL- Members of the AIFL Advisory Board
Malcolm Coulthard
Professor Emeritus, Birmingham University
Chair of the AIFL Advisory BoardChris Heffer
Reader, Cardiff University
Email: HefferC2@cardiff.ac.uk
Adviser for SILCPeter Patrick
Professor Emeritus, Essex University
Email: patrickp@essex.ac.uk
Adviser for FTADidier Meuwly
Professor, University of Twente
Email: d.meuwly@utwente.nl
Adviser to FDSLJanet Ainsworth
John D. Eshelman Professor of Law Emerita, Seattle University
Email: jan@seattleu.edu
Adviser for CLLDeborah Leary, OBE
CEO and founder of Forensic Pathways
Adviser to AIFL
Yaron Matras Honorary Professor, Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics, School of Social SciencesEmail:y.matras@aston.ac.ukPersonal website: yaronmatras.orgAdviser to AIFL- PhD Research Students
Neus Alberich Buera
Research Student
Email: 190184416@aston.ac.ukMadeleine Palmer
Research Student
Email: 220350251@aston.ac.ukAndrew Patrick Reczek
Research Student
Email: reczeka@aston.ac.ukLily Calloway
Research Student
Email: 220337506@aston.ac.ukJordan Robertson
Research Student
Email: 200203975@aston.ac.ukMelanie Clinton
Research Student
Email: 220288426@aston.ac.ukLisa Rogers
Research Student
Email: rogersl1@aston.ac.ukJulija Danu
Research Student
Email: 220295479@aston.ac.ukNatascha Rohde
Research Student
Email: 180176838@aston.ac.ukLiubov Green
Research Student
Email: greenl6@aston.ac.ukDaniela Schneevogt
Research Student
Email: schneevd@aston.ac.uk
Our Teaching
- Master of Arts in Forensic Linguistics
We run a one-year Master of Arts in Forensic Linguistics programme.
NEW FOR 2022: Study for the MA Forensic Linguistics entirely online. Find more details here.
Members of the Institute teach the undergraduate courses “Language and Law” and “Language as Evidence”.
Potential PhD students should in the first instance make enquiries with the Aston academic staff member with whom they are interested in working. Note that only members with the rank of Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Reader, Associate Professor, or Professor can supervise PhD students.
- PhD supervision
The Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics (AIFL) has a proven track-record of supervising PhD students in the areas of forensic linguistics and language and law, and we are always keen to hear from strong candidates interested in completing a doctorate research degree under our supervision.
Potential PhD students should in the first instance make enquiries with the Aston academic staff member with whom they are interested in working. Note that only members with the rank of Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Reader, Associate Professor, or Professor can supervise PhD students.
This includes Prof Tim Grant, Prof Lauren Devine, Dr Krzysztof Kredens, Dr Geoffrey Stewart Morrison, Dr Tahmineh Tayebi, Dr Kate Haworth, Dr Stephen Parker, Dr Nicci MacLeod, and Dr Felicity Deamer. Their research interests can be found on the AIFL pages of Aston Research Explorer.
For informal enquiries about PhD supervision, please contact the individual you would like to become your supervisor or, for more general enquiries, Professor Tim Grant (t.d.grant@aston.ac.uk).
Please find more information about the application process by visiting this website.
You may also be interested in:
- Casework and consulting
The Institute itself does not conduct casework; however, members of the Institute conduct investigative and evidential casework in the civil and criminal courts in multiple jurisdictions around the world. Our research informs our casework activity, and our casework experience informs our research and teaching.
Members of the Institute also take part in non-casework consulting. This includes advising commercial security organisations, lawyers, and HR departments about risks management.