Professor Niamh Nic Daéid is one of the UK’s leading researchers in forensic science and is based at the University of Dundee. This evening she will deliver an interesting and entertaining lecture on the role and impact of forensic science in the real world. For over 150 years we have applied scientific principles and practices to the investigation of materials of potential evidential significance in determining whether criminal activity has occurred. However, since 2009 the science behind much of the forensic evidence presented in Court or used to develop investigative strategies for law enforcement has been increasingly challenged and brought to account. Key to the responsibilities of forensic science is how we detect things, how we recognise what we are measuring, how this is compared to known samples and critically, how we evaluate and interpret the results in a given case context. The communication of what parts of this detection to interpretation journey is actually grounded with the authority of science is at the heart of our conversation. Communicating what is science, what is not and what does it matter anyway in a way that is understandable within the legal and public arena is our current grand challenge.