UBC and BCIT are partnering to launch a four-year intensive program for students planning to go into the forensic sciences, combining core science education with hands-on forensics experience.
The Bachelor of Science combined honours in biochemistry and forensic science is a joint program where students will spend their first year at UBC taking science courses, then will spend the next three years taking courses at both UBC and BCIT.
BCIT already has a two-year Forensic Science program, while UBC offers a four-year Bachelor of Science in biochemistry. This four-year joint degree is meant to allow students interested in forensic sciences to save time by taking both curricula concurrently.
According to Dr. Warren Williams, senior instructor and advisor at the UBC department of biochemistry and molecular biology, the partnership came about when BCIT contacted UBC to teach students the fundamentals of both forensic science and science.
“We think that there is a need for forensic scientists with more of a basic science core background, we think that there is a market need there and we think it would be a good thing for the industry as a whole to have that,” said Williams.
Beyond its high-ranked faculty, BCIT offers students access to its accredited forensic DNA laboratory, currently the only post-secondary laboratory of its kind in Canada.
“We’ve got access to fantastic forensic investigators and instructors that draw upon this program, [so] it’s a very applied discipline,” said Dr. Dean Hildebrand, associate dean of BCIT’s School of Computing and Academic Studies.
“We have a forensic DNA lab that is operational, we do actual case work, and we have the same accreditation as the RCMP laboratory.”
The program will accept 15 to 20 students for its first September 2018 intake, and students will be selected based on their performances in first-year science courses at UBC.
“We’re looking for […] students who are really passionate and interested in forensic sciences and have the grades and the drive to pull this off,” concluded Dr. Williams.
The program will begin its first year in September 2018.