Magnet Forensics Scholarship Program

GIVING PROMISING OFFICERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO ADVANCE IN DIGITAL FORENSICS

The annual Magnet Forensics Scholarship Program awards recipients in two categories: new to digital forensics and advanced. In the first category, we’re looking for promising investigators who want to get a start in the field of digital forensics. In the second category, we’re looking for more experienced digital investigators who have no experience with Magnet AXIOM and want to learn more about how it can help in their investigations.

Objectives of the Magnet Forensics Scholarship Program

We’re offering these scholarships because we feel it’s vitally important to:

  • Help agencies with limited or no digital forensics capacity to utilize digital evidence to get to the truth in investigations into crimes such as child sexual exploitation, human trafficking, and others involving digital evidence.
  • Advance the technical skills of promising officers by giving them digital forensics training so we can continue to work together in our mission to Seek Justice and Protect the Innocent.
  • Promote diversity throughout the digital forensics field.

To apply for the Magnet Forensics Scholarship Program, fill out this form. Your application will need to include your current resume, a cover letter explaining your interest and how you meet the program’s objectives, and a letter of reference from a supervisor or leader within your agency.

Applications are now open for the 2023 awards and will close December 1, 2023. 

If you have any questions, please contact us at scholarshipprogram@magnetforensics.com.

What Recipients Will Receive

WORLD-CLASS DIGITAL FORENSICS TRAINING

Starting from the very basics of digital forensics and working right through to advanced smartphone and computer forensics, you’ll be able to take unlimited training from Magnet Forensics for a year.

OPPORTUNITY TO OBTAIN DIGITAL FORENSICS CERTIFICATIONS

After completing our training, you’ll be eligible to become Magnet Certified, demonstrating your expertise and giving you credibility with your agency and on the stand.

SOFTWARE LICENSE FOR ONE YEAR

You will also receive a one-year Magnet AXIOM license, giving you access to a comprehensive digital forensics tool that will help you find and report on evidence from smartphones, computers, and the cloud.

THE 2023 MAGNET FORENSICS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM RECIPIENTS ARE BEING AWARDED IN HONOUR OF SGT. STEVE MARTIN

The 2023 Magnet Forensics Scholarship Program is honouring an officer who committed his career to the fight against child sexual exploitation. Sgt. Steve Martin joined the Peel Regional Police in 2003, beginning his career on uniform patrol. Over the next few years, Martin would serve with the agency’s neighbourhood policing unit and its Criminal Investigation Bureau, before joining its Internet Child Exploitation unit in 2013. Martin was passionate about helping children: As an officer, he played a lead role in arresting criminals who shared and created child sexual abuse material. In between shifts, he was active in the local Big Brother community. He died in January after a long bout with cancer, leaving behind his wife and six-year-old daughter. He was 40 years old.

Meet This Year’s Magnet Forensics Program Award Winners

We’re proud to announce the latest winners of the Magnet Forensics Scholarship Program:

NEW TO FORENSICS:

John Freeman

City of Girard Police Department in Ohio

“The Magnet Forensics Scholarship Award is going to give me the training and resources I need to become the first and only digital forensic investigator at the City of Girard Police Dep. Few agencies in Ohio have the resources for digital investigations despite just how important digital evidence has become in almost all our cases. After my year of training, I’m going to share what I learn with nearby agencies and assist them in their investigations so that their communities can have better access to these essential services.”

Geoff Johnson

Brantford Police Service in Canada

“When I joined the Brantford Police Service’s Internet Child Exploitation Unit in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, child exploitation cases were on the rise and with the pandemic challenges, I was struggling to obtain the training I needed to investigate them thoroughly. The Magnet Forensics Scholarship Award is going to allow me to complete my training and expand the Internet Child Exploitation Unit’s ability to assist with other investigations in Brantford involving critical digital evidence.”

Jason Neems

Queensland Police Service in Australia

“The Magnet Forensics Scholarship Award will enhance the capability of the Queensland Police Service’s Electronic Evidence Unit to provide digital forensics services to all of Queensland, including extremely remote locations. I’m grateful to Magnet Forensics for providing us with training and technology to further investigate crimes involving child exploitation, children at risk and homicides across our state.”

ADVANCED:

Kristin Seering

Saint Louis County Police Department in Missouri

“There is no digital forensics tool that allows police to conduct more efficient, accurate and thorough examinations than Magnet AXIOM. The Magnet Forensics Scholarship Award will help us take the first step to making Magnet AXIOM our primary analysis tool for all digital investigations.”

Ana Lúcia Esteves de Moura

Sao Paulo Police Department in Brazil

“I dedicated myself to digital investigations after my daughter was a victim of cyberbullying. The Magnet Forensics Scholarship Award will allow me to take the next step in my career and train with some of the leading experts in digital forensics so that I can better help my team investigate crimes against police.”

Joel Chukwuji

Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Nigeria

“I’m often asked to help investigators recover digital evidence from phones belonging to suspects despite not having formal training or access to the leading digital forensics tool. With the Magnet Forensics Scholarship Award, I’m going to be able to better help the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps recover digital evidence and curb child trafficking in my country.”

Hear from Previous Magnet Forensics Scholarship Award Winners:

We’re proud to announce the six winners of the Magnet Forensics Scholarship Award for 2022! Get to know them in this Q&A. 
READ MORE: Meet the Recipients

Eric Dalla Mura, an investigator with the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations, discusses winning the Magnet Forensics Scholarship Award and how it’s helped inform where he will go in his career.
READ MORE: Catching up with the Winner of the First Scholarship Award

Kate Newrick, an investigator with the Digital Child Exploitation Team at the Department of Internal Affairs in New Zealand, and Lawrence Mowery, a computer forensic detective at the Moscow Police Department in Idaho, discuss why they took it upon themselves to apply for the Magnet Forensics Scholarship Award, and how they hope it will help with their respective careers.
READ MORE: Meet the 2019 Recipients

Submit Your Application

To apply for the Magnet Forensics Scholarship Program, fill out this form. Your application will need to also include: 

1. Your current resume / CV

2. A cover letter explaining how you meet the objectives of the Magnet Forensics Scholarship Program (outlined above)

3. A letter of reference from a supervisor and/or leader within your agency

Applications are now open for the 2023 awards and will close December 1, 2023.