Research Partnership Program.(Laboratory Outreach Programs)

The Research Partnership Program, which is coordinated by the Laboratory's Counterterrorism and Forensic Science Research Unit, is an effort of FBI, state, and local scientific personnel to improve forensic science. Research and development projects and database building are funded through the Program. These projects leverage the experience of state and local forensic examiners for research purposes in disciplines that typically require extensive examiner training and experience to interpret results.

The primary goals of the Program are as follows:

* Enhance the transfer of new forensic technologies and procedures to caseworking examiners in state and local forensic laboratories by collaborative research and development, testing, and validation studies

* Facilitate the implementation of protocols defined by scientific working groups

* Catalyze the development of national forensic databases

In 2003 three internal research projects were implemented in the Program.

* Permanence of Friction Ridge Skin Detail--Permanence is one of the fundamental principles of the friction ridge discipline that permits identification. Although permanence is supported by the biological sciences, it has yet to be studied empirically by comparing fingerprints over time. This project will use the expertise of state and local laboratory latent print examiners to study the permanence of friction ridge skin detail.