Leicester cited in Parliamentary debate on world-class impact of UK science
Our University has been cited for the world-class impact of its work in a Parliamentary debate on Treasury Support for UK Science.
The debate, at Westminster Hall on 4 November, was secured by Angela Smith, Labour MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, and featured 27 speeches including one from Jo Johnson, Minister of State for Universities and Science.
Ms Smith said: “Researchers at the University of Leicester have developed new technology that reveals previously undetectable fingerprints on metal objects; the method has been used in more than 100 criminal cases so far and is enabling the reopening of closed cold cases.”
Dr John Bond OBE (pictured), of the Department of Criminology, invented a novel method of recovering fingerprints from spent brass shell casings, which has been used to provide prosecution evidence in murder trials across the US.
Professor Julie Coleman, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Head of the College of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, said: “This work provides compelling evidence of the far-reaching societal benefit of funding research across all disciplines. Quite apart from the economic benefit of taking violent criminals out of circulation, Dr Bond’s method for recovering previously unrecoverable fingerprints has been instrumental in achieving justice for victims and their families around the world.”