FASE Certification

FASE CERTIFICATION

It is recognized worldwide that some form of accreditation is necessary for practicing forensic anthropologists. An international, non-biased and objective certification system is of paramount importance for maintaining high standards for forensic anthropology among practitioners, especially because, at least in Europe, forensic anthropology practitioners have different professional backgrounds and do not always have a formal education/training in forensic anthropology.

The Forensic Anthropology Society of Europe (FASE) offers formal certification for forensic anthropologists, following evaluation, testing and approval by an examinations board. The certification program was introduced in 2014 after several years of intensive discussions and preparations, and is intended mainly to test if practitioners’ knowledge and competence are in line with international standards and enables standardization and best practices among forensic experts. The certification is open to practitioner from all regions of the world.

CERTIFICATION SCHEME

FASE offers two levels of certification – Level 2 and Level 1.
  • Level 2 is for candidates with sufficient qualifications to handle skeletal remains and who provide assistance to senior personnel.
  • Level 1 is the highest and is aimed at providing certification for independent practitioners. The title gained is C-FASE (certified by FASE).

Certification assessments are scheduled once annually and are usually associated with the annual FASE workshop and symposium.

The certification process is performed in two phases:

1) Initial evaluation of a detailed CV and other documents (check the Level 1 and Level 2 Certification sections for more details) to be emailed to this address. These will be assessed by the examination board and those that meet the requested criteria will be shortlisted.  It is emphasized that incomplete applications will result in the application not being further considered for evaluation.

2) Once a candidate has passed the initial evaluation, he/she will proceed with the examination.

First the candidate needs to write an online theoretical examination which is in the form of a multichoice exam.

The written exam is same for Level 1 and Level 2 applicants and is considered as passed if a result of 80% or more is achieved.

If passed, the written exam will be followed by an in-person practical assessment in the form of stations with osseous remains to be analysed and interpreted. The practical stations test is the same for Level 1 and Level 2 and is considered as passed if a result of 80% or more is achieved.

Those applying for Level 1, after passing both the written exam and the stations test,  must additionally complete a practical oral examination that will focus on two case scenarios.

Please note, if any of these parts is not passed the participant cannot continue to the next phase of the examination. ´

If the participants passed all the parts of the examination, the overall results and the final decision on the certification status of the candidates will be announced within one week after the examination by email.

PAYMENT

A 50 Euro handling and examination fee is payable to FASE (through IALM), with bank details as provided. The fee should be paid before the application deadline and a proof of payment must be sent together with the certification documentation.

All applicants need to be members of FASE prior to applying for certification.

QUERIES

Queries about the certification process can be directed to this address.

Before contacting us you can check our FAQ section.

If candidates still have queries after having applied and been shortlisted, they can participate in a Zoom meeting that is organized prior to examination and where examination board member(s) will further clarify the examination process. Please consult FASE webpage to be updated in this regard since the zoom meeting will be announce in there.

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