Forensic Chemistry
Forensic chemistry is the application of chemistry and its subfield, forensic toxicology, in a legal setting. A forensic chemist can assist in the identification of unknown materials found at a crime scene. Specialists in this field have a wide array of methods and instruments to help identify unknown substances. These include high-performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, atomic absorption spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thin layer chromatography. The range of different methods is important due to the destructive nature of some instruments and the number of possible unknown substances that can be found at a scene. Forensic chemists prefer using nondestructive methods first, to preserve evidence and to determine which destructive methods will produce the best results.
Along with other forensic specialists, forensic chemists commonly testify in court as expert witnesses regarding their findings. Forensic chemists follow a set of standards that have been proposed by various agencies and governing bodies, including the Scientific Working Group on the Analysis of Seized Drugs. In addition to the standard operating procedures proposed by the group, specific agencies have their own standards regarding the quality assurance and quality control of their results and their instruments. To ensure the accuracy of what they are reporting, forensic chemists routinely check and verify that their instruments are working correctly and are still able to detect and measure various quantities of different substances.
* Description and images provided by Wikipedia under CC-BY-SA 3.0 license .
Matching Forensic Chemistry Colleges
Arizona State University Campus Immersion
Four or more years; Public; $28,800 average out-state tuition; $10,710 average in-state tuition |
Bowling Green State University-Main Campus
Four or more years; Public; $18,765 average out-state tuition; $10,776 average in-state tuition |
Arizona State University-West
Four or more years; Public; $25,350 average out-state tuition; $9,613 average in-state tuition |
Western Carolina University
Four or more years; Public; $5,000 average out-state tuition; $1,000 average in-state tuition |
Sam Houston State University
Four or more years; Public; $15,648 average out-state tuition; $5,856 average in-state tuition |
Eastern Kentucky University
Four or more years; Public; $19,724 average out-state tuition; $9,452 average in-state tuition |
Towson University
Four or more years; Public; $22,152 average out-state tuition; $7,100 average in-state tuition |
Scholarships for Forensic Chemistry Majors
Churchill ScholarshipThe Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States |
||||
award Up to $65,000 |
deadline November 01, 2023 |
|||
Edith Nourse Rogers STEM ScholarshipU.S. Department of Veterans Affairs |
||||
award Up to $30,000 |
deadline Varies |
|||
Jewel Scholars Program - Mount Mary CollegeMount Mary College |
||||
award $26,000 |
deadline Varies |
|||
SMART ScholarshipUnited States Department of Defense (DoD) |
||||
award Up to $38,000 |
deadline December 01, 2023 |
|||
Lumpkins Family Merit Scholarship in the College of ScienceUniversity of Notre Dame |
||||
award $25,000 |
deadline January 01, 2024 |
|||
Quantitative Biology Research Community (QBReC) FellowshipBrandeis University |
||||
award Up to $20,500 |
deadline January 01, 2024 |
|||
McKnight Doctoral FellowshipFlorida Education Fund |
||||
award Up to $18,000 |
deadline January 15, 2024 |
|||
UCF Astronaut ScholarshipUniversity of Central Florida (UCF) |
||||
award Up to $15,000 |
deadline October 31, 2023 |
|||
National Space Club Keynote ScholarshipNational Space Club |
||||
award $15,000 |
deadline December 04, 2023 |
|||
Alice P. Gast STEM ScholarshipLehigh University |
||||
award $12,500 |
deadline January 15, 2024 |
Forensic Chemistry Related Majors
- Chemistry
- Physics
- Astronomy
- Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences
- Astrophysics
- Physical Sciences
- Meteorology
- Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology
- Planetary Astronomy and Science
- Organic Chemistry
- Paleontology
- Theoretical and Mathematical Physics
- Oceanography, Chemical and Physical
- Environmental Chemistry
- Chemical Physics
- Nuclear Physics
- Hydrology and Water Resources Science
- Geophysics and Seismology
- Analytical Chemistry
- Astronomy and Astrophysics