Professor Klaas Slooten

Dr. Klaas Slooten has been professor holding an endowed chair in Mathematics for Forensic Genetics at VU Amsterdam since 1 September 2015.

Dr. Slooten focuses on the application of mathematics and statistics in DNA investigation, with family relations tests as the point of departure. These tests are used in criminal investigations (familial searching) and in identification procedures in, for example, major disasters.

In cooperation with VU Amsterdam, Dr. Slooten focuses, among other things, on maximising search strategies in forensic DNA databases, including on establishing the most efficient method for familial searching. In addition to his research activities, Dr. Slooten is responsible for giving lectures on ‘The use of statistics in legal court cases’ together with Ronald Meester in the context of the VU Honours Programme. Dr. Slooten will spend more time on teaching in the future.

Curriculum vitae

Klaas Slooten (1974) studied Mathematics at Leiden University and obtained his PhD in 2003 at the University of Amsterdam on his doctoral thesis ‘A combinatorial generalization of the Springer correspondence for classical type’. He was subsequently a post-doctoral researcher at Université de Marne-la-Vallée, the Mittag-Leffler Institute (Sweden), and the Institut pour Hautes Études Scientifiques (France).

Dr. Slooten has worked for the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) since 2008.