CIR’s first Digital Investigation Academy draws to a Close
5 min read
CIR
Training day 1 for the Academy group at the University of Glasgow.
In March 2025, the last of our student groups at the universities of Glasgow, Cardiff and Liverpool wrapped up their human rights research projects, signifying the end of CIR’s first Digital Investigation Academy.
Alongside their studies, the 40 students embarked on 12 weeks of practical training in open source research techniques. The Academy kicked off with two days’ in-person training, where two of our CIR investigators taught foundational OSINT techniques and project-specific skills, before moving on to the 12-week research project, consisting of weekly group research sessions focused on real human rights projects.
Between them, the students logged more than 1,000 hours of research, contributing valuable, novel findings to our Eyes on Russia and Myanmar Witness human rights projects, while learning transferable skills essential for the digital age.
Learn more about the projects they worked on and the next steps for the Digital Investigation Academy.
University of Liverpool students during the workshop
The projects
Ukraine: Attacks on cultural and religious infrastructure
The Eyes on Russia project collects, verifies, and maps publicly available data relating to incidents of civilian infrastructure damage or civilian harm related to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which can be accessed through the Eyes on Russia public map.
To support this work, the team at the University of Glasgow were tasked with investigating the scale of damage to Ukraine’s cultural and religious sites following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. They took part in an intensive two-day training course at the University of Glasgow, where – on top of the basics in OSINT collection, verification and analysis – they learnt basic weapons analysis, how to use Telegram and other context important for the project.
Both projects were split into four phases. They were carefully tailored by CIR investigators to give the students a chance to use a variety of processes and techniques, all the while minimising their exposure to graphic content and ensuring the project output is accurate, representative and ultimately useful.
The Eyes on Russia map
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| PHASE | GOAL |
| PHASE 1: Collection and verification | The goal in Phase 1 was to collect and verify incidents of damage to cultural and religious sites in Ukraine since the start of the invasion. Students used social media collection, satellite imagery analysis, and verification methodologies such as geolocation and chronolocation. This data was then added to Eyes on Russia’s database. |
| PHASE 2: Statistical & trend analysis | Students analysed the data they had collected, in combination with data from Eyes on Russia’s database, to identify and document key geographic and temporal trends in damage to cultural and religious sites. They then visualised their analysis and findings using MapHub and Datawrapper. The trends studied included oblasts (administrative regions) with the highest number of damage incidents and the geographic spread of incidents both close to and far away from the front line. |
| PHASE 3: Case studies | The group identified incidents or trends of note, using OSINT methodologies to analyse them in more depth. For example, one group presented findings related to a damaged mosque in Mariupol during its siege in 2022 to better understand what happened, when, and potential actors. Another group analysed incidents of damage to religious sites in Kherson Oblast, a region significantly affected by the conflict. |
| PHASE 4: Write-up | Finally, the group brought together the verified data (Phase 1), statistical and trend analysis (Phase 2) and case studies (Phase 3) into a written mini report. They learnt how to balance privacy with transparency in an open source output and writing techniques that help distinguish this kind of write-up from an academic context. |
An example of the group’s trend analysis which was used in the final report draft, currently awaiting publication. The map shows incidents of damage to churches and cathedrals in blue, mosques in red, and synagogues in yellow
As an initial output, the incidents analysed and verified by the students were added to the Eyes on Russia map and corresponding database, bolstering the data exposing the impact of Russia’s invasion on Ukraine’s religious sites.
Myanmar: Fire mapping
The teams at the University of Cardiff and the University of Liverpool spent their 12 weeks mapping villages damaged by fire in conflict areas of Myanmar.
Fires have become a common form of violence in Myanmar, particularly since the coup in February 2021. Myanmar Witness has reported on fire trends in the country extensively since then. This project sought to continue that research: the two university groups looked in-depth at the four most affected regions, using some of the methodologies Myanmar Witness uses to track and verify fires.
The project was split into four phases:
| PHASE | GOAL |
| PHASE 1: Satellite imagery analysis | The students used NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System [FIRMS] data, Sentinel Hub and Google Earth Pro to verify: was there a fire on X date in X village? The fires were then given rankings on severity between 1 and 5. |
| PHASE 2: Statistical & trend analysis | From the verified fires, students analysed the data for geographical and longitudinal trends. For example, identifying particularly affected areas or timeframes, or showing trends over time. Using Datawrapper, the students learnt how to visualise these in a way that’s clear and representative. |
| PHASE 3: Case studies | The groups used particularly affected village(s) or patterns of fire to identify potential compelling case studies. They then searched for, verified and analysed relevant content posted online. |
| PHASE 4: Write-up | The groups brought together the verified satellite imagery data (Phase 1), statistical and trend analysis (Phase 2) and case studies (Phase 3) into a report draft complete with visuals. In particular, they focused on writing up a complete incident report for the case studies they worked on. |
This work has been turned into two reports on updated fire trends and incidents of note in Myanmar. These are currently awaiting publication.
What’s next?
From the feedback we have gathered and the work produced, the pilot has been successful, bolstering CIR’s human rights outputs and training up the next generation of students with employable and practical digital investigations skills.
“I was introduced to OSINT through CIR. I have always been interested in analysing datasets and investigative journalism. And by joining CIR’s workshop, I was able to develop my skills hands-on and work on a real-life project… In a world filled with information and data, OSINT provides people with the skill to navigate through the noise and find meaningful patterns that make sense of the world.”
Our hope is that this cohort of young Academy graduates go on to apply the skills they have learnt in their future research and careers.
And this is just the beginning. Over the coming year, CIR is looking to cement and expand the programme, including offering online versions to broaden the academy’s geographic reach.
We are always on the lookout for potential partners or funders. If you’re interested in hosting the Academy at your university or institution, or in helping to support the future of the Academy, reach out to us on [email protected].
Further updates will be posted to the Academy’s web page.