York is a leading centre for research and teaching in forensic speech science: the application of linguistics, phonetics and acoustics to legal investigations and proceedings. The research group comprises staff and students at the University of York, members of The Forensic Voice Centre, and a network of collaborators from linguistics, phonetics, speech technology, law, and other forensic sciences.
Our research covers a wide range of issues in phonetics and sociolinguistics as well as forensic speech science, including understanding spoken variation within and between languages, communities and individuals; developing population data on phonetic features; empirical approaches to LAAP (language analysis in the asylum procedure); and the potential contributions of phonetic features to automatic speaker recognition.
Keep up to date with the latest news from the FSS@York group on our News Page.
York is also home to Forensic Speech Services, which provides services and professional development opportunities beyond the University of York's academic programmes. We offer:
A range of CPD courses, both in person and online, including bespoke courses for clients
Forensic services, supporting practitioners through regulation and accreditation
Forensic speech and audio casework
Consultancy services and contract research
We welcome inquiries from students interested in postgraduate work with us, from professionals interested in research collaborations, and from people seeking expert advice on speech analysis in legal cases.
For MSc/PhD inquiries, contact linguistics-pg-admissions@york.ac.uk
For general inquiries, contact paul.foulkes@york.ac.uk