Professor Sarah Cooper

Dr Sarah Cooper is a Professor of Interdisciplinary Research and Criminal Justice at Birmingham City University. Her research investigates intersections of law and science in criminal justice systems, including how judges respond to claims that forensic science is unreliable, jurors interpret expert evidence, and the role of science in clemency and compassionate release from prison procedures. Professor Cooper’s work argues that cultural differences between law and science can result in error (including wrongful conviction), scepticism, and reductionism, requiring greater science literacy in legal practice.

Her work has been widely cited by scholars, judges, lawyers, and in treatises. She has led several funding awards, including from the Leverhulme Trust, British Academy, Research England and Arts and Humanities Research Council, and has held Visiting Scholar positions at the Arizona Justice Project, Amicus, Arizona State University, Pace University, and the Law Library of United States Congress, where, in 2023, she delivered the Annual Human Rights Day Lecture on Science Literacy and the Law.

Professor Cooper has extensive leadership experience in the postgraduate research space, including serving as Chair of the Faculty for Business, Law and Social Sciences’ Research Degrees and Environment Committee, and Site Director for the Midlands4Cities Arts and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Training Partnership. In April 2025, she was appointed Co-Director of the University Alliance’s Future Societies Doctoral Programme, which operates across a consortium of 10 UK universities.

Professor Cooper has led BCU’s United States Internship Programme for over 15 years, using innovative pedagogies to enhance students’ intercultural competencies and digital literacies for legal practice.