Forensic Science Centre “Ivan Vučetić” and University Collaborators at the 78th Annual Conference of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences

Forensic Science Centre "Ivan Vučetić" participated in the annual conference of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS), held from 9 to 14 February 2026 in New Orleans, USA under the slogan "Back to Basics: The Fundamentals of Forensic Science". The conference represents the largest international scientific and professional gathering in the field of forensic sciences, bringing together forensic laboratories, universities and judicial institutions from around the world.

FOTO: CFIIV "Ivan Vučetić"

During the conference, Forensics Experts of the Centre attended numerous lectures, workshops, and panel discussions delivered by leading international experts across various forensic disciplines, including digital forensics, forensic genetics, toxicology, ballistics, questioned document examination, and forensic phonetics and linguistics. The exchange of best practises and introduction to the latest methodologies, technologies, and professional standards enabled the acquisition of new expertise that will support the further development of forensic procedures at the Forensic Science Centre.

Active participation of the Centre was achieved through strong inter-institutional cooperation with the Faculty of Forensic Sciences of the University of Split, as well as with the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Graphic Arts of the University of Zagreb. This collaboration connected forensic practice with academic research and contributed to the development of methodological approaches relevant to the advancement of forensic practice.

The Centre's forensic experts participated with two oral presentations and a poster paper.

Sunčica Kuzmić delivered an oral presentation entitled “The Sound of Deception: Voice and Language Markers in Emotionally Charged Lies,” a joint research study with Andrea Ledić, PhD, and Ivan Jerković, PhD. The presentation described an examination of acoustic and linguistic features of deceptive speech in Croatian language across different emotional contexts. Using large language models and machine learning techniques, the study demonstrated the potential for objective classification of truthful and deceptive statements based on vocal and linguistic characteristics.

Jelena Tabak, a doctoral candidate in linguistics at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, presented “From Variation to Verification: A Basic Forensic Model for Identifying Single vs Multiple Authors of Anonymous Letters,” co-authored with Andrea Ledić, PhD, and Ivan Jerković, PhD. The presentation introduced a methodology for authorship assessment of anonymous letters based on intra-authorial variation as a benchmark. Through a combination of stylometric analysis, PCA modelling, and forensic handwriting examination, the results indicated that the observed differences corresponded to variation within a single author rather than multiple authorship.

The poster “A Forensic Analysis of 2-Phenoxyethanol in Ballpoint Pen Strokes on Paper Under Natural Aging Conditions,” prepared in collaboration with Ivana Bolanča Mirković, PhD, Stjepan Brzica, MSc, and Andrea Ledić, PhD, was presented by Centre's expert Veronika Marinović, PhD. The research monitored changes in the concentration of 2-phenoxyethanol in ballpoint pen ink during natural ageing using HPLC analysis. The findings contribute to more reliable document dating and authenticity assessment in forensic casework.

Participation in AAFS confirms the involvement of the Forensic Science Centre „Ivan Vučetić“ in the international forensic community and its commitment to the development and implementation of modern forensic examination methods. Particular importance should be given to cooperation with universities, which fosters the integration of scientific research and forensic practice, and enhances the quality of forensic examinations in the Republic of Croatia.

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