Special recognition of York’s CPD course in Forensic Speech and Audio Analysis

Posted on 18 January 2022

L&LS’s CPD course in Forensic Speech and Audio Analysis singled out for special mention in BA report on knowledge exchange

In the British Academy’s recently published report ‘Knowledge Exchange in the SHAPE Subjects 2021’ (where SHAPE stands for ‘Social Sciences, Humanities and the Arts for People and the Economy’), York’s Continuing Professional Development course in Forensic Speech and Audio Analysis (FSAA) is listed as one of just 8 outstanding knowledge exchange initiatives.

SHAPE subjects, according to the British Academy, ‘help people understand their place in the world. They shape and inform public policy to drive societal good. They support the translation of research into products, services, ideas and actions through the understanding of behaviour in markets, people and economies. This creates broad benefits for society, allowing the UK to realise its ambitions as a more innovative, productive, and inclusive economy and society.’

The CPD course in FSAA is taught by departmental staff together with audio experts from JP French Associates, and are aimed at forensic scientists, police and government security personnel working in law enforcement, legal, prosecution and defence services. Participants benefit from three days of intensive learning, comprising a mix of theory delivered through lectures and hands-on practical training using cutting-edge speech technology.

Dominic Watt, who helped to design and deliver the course before it was suspended in 2020 because of the COVID pandemic, said, “We are absolutely delighted to see that the British Academy has recognised our unique CPD course for its quality and importance as a means of vitally important transfer of specialist knowledge to external organisations. These include police forces in the UK and overseas, intelligence agencies, forensic science providers, and other organisations which contribute to the well-being and security of society in this country, as well as on the international stage. The feedback we have had from participants over the five outings of the course to date has been uniformly extremely positive - we really feel as though our efforts are making a big difference to how forensic speech and audio work is being done around the world.”

For further information see:

Continuing Professional Development Forensic Speech and Audio Analysis September 9-12 2018

To read the British Academy report:

British Academy - Knowledge Exchange in the SHAPE subjects Report 2021 (PDF file)

(Information about the FSAA course is on p.25)