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Amsterdam 5-Day Workshop: Deep Dive into Open Source Price: EUR 3,200

Monday, Oct 5, 2026 at 9:00 AM to Friday, Oct 9, 2026 at 5:00 PM CEST

Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NH, 1012 AB, Netherlands

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Event Information

Monday, Oct 5, 2026 at 9:00 AM to Friday, Oct 9, 2026 at 5:00 PM CEST

Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NH, 1012 AB, Netherlands.

Bellingcat Deep Dive: Immersion into Open Source Investigations

Five Day In-Person Workshop

October 5-9, 2026, 9 am-5pm CEST

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Price: Eur 3,200

 

Would you like to know how to geolocate footage showing Shahed-136 type kamikaze drones; chronolocate shadows to prove the time  an airstrike took place; collect and analyse thousands of social platform records to trace the activities of violent groups? Bellingcat Investigations – like those that uncover the people behind nudifcation websites or identify wildlife traffickers on social media – may span months, if not years, and involve thousands of snippets of information and the use of varied open source research techniques.

This October, join Bellingcat for an immersive, intensive course learning from our researchers how to carry out open source investigations. We’ll review the skillsets that we used to track  the Kinahan cartel across the globe, document civilian harm in Ukraine, and connect digital traces to uncover wrongdoing across the world.

What you’ll learn: 

  • How to apply the newest open-source research methods, skills and tools, used (or developed) by Bellingcat’s team to a project of your own
  • Geolocate and chronolocate photos and videos like a pro
  • Upgrade your methods for identifying people online, pivoting across data, usernames, and cross-platform footprints
  • Integrate AI into your research workflow
  • Think through a case the way a Bellingcat researcher does — from a fragment of evidence to a conclusion that can be used in a report or article

Experience level:

You should have a basic understanding of what open-source investigations are, although open source research experience isn't necessary. We ask that you come with a topic you'd like to investigate, even a project you'd only work on for fun. This is not a tool tutorial for first-time researchers. 

If you are at an earlier stage of your open source research journey, we encourage you to check our website for webinars suitable for absolute beginners. If we do not offer any training that meets your needs currently, we suggest you subscribe to our mailing list to receive early announcements (before the general public) about our future workshops.

Your research project: 

Every Bellingcat workshop is shaped around who's in the room. Come with a research question you'd like to pursue, and we'll invite specialist researchers to lead sessions based on shared interests across the group. We will ask only confirmed participants to share their research topic with us. 

No research idea yet? Don’t worry! We’ll come up with a list of research challenges to choose from and practice during the training. 

Logistics: 

The workshop will be led by experienced Bellingcat researchers who will guide you through the workshop week. All of them have extensive open source research experience and are passionate about sharing their knowledge with you. In addition, you can expect additional Bellingcat researchers to contribute to the workshop remotely. This way, you will always hear the Bellingcat team members who are most experienced with a topic speak about it.

Venue details, timing, and logistics are sent to confirmed participants in the week before the workshop. Coffee, tea, and light lunches are provided during the training.

Not ready for this level yet:

In case you think you’re not ready for this deep dive training, please check our website for upcoming webinars suitable for beginners. 

Cancellation policy

  • You will be registered as a participant only after we have received full payment of the workshop fee;
  • If you cancel your registration up to four week before the start of the workshop, you will be refunded the total workshop fee, minus EUR 50 (+ VAT and fees) (administrative costs);
  • If you cancel within four to two weeks before the start of the workshop, you will be reimbursed 50% of the workshop fee. If we manage to replace you with a new participant, you will be refunded the total workshop fee, minus EUR 50 (+ VAT and fees) (administrative costs);
  • If you cancel less than two weeks before the workshop we will not reimburse the workshop fee. If we manage to replace you with a new participant, you will be refunded the total workshop fee, minus EUR 50 (+ VAT and fees) (administrative costs);

Event Location

About Organizer

Stichting Bellingcat Organizer name

www.bellingcat.com

Bellingcat is an international collective of researchers and citizen journalists using digital verifiable information to investigate a broad range of topics and uncover wrongdoing. Our research is based on facts and evidence and we publish articles with the aim to find objective truth and advance justice, transparency and accountability. We cooperate, share and train others to spread our knowledge, build networks and expand the online open source community.

Contact the Organizer

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Bellingcat?

Bellingcat began by analyzing footage of chemical weapons attacks in the Syrian civil war back in 2014. In recent years we have worked on covering various topics from civilian harm in Ukraine,  through wildlife trafficking in South East Asia, the recruitment of child soldiers in Africa to the luxurious life of Kinahan cartel leaders living openly in Dubai despite an international manhunt. 

We turn that same curiosity into a teachable research skill. Combined with practical knowledge of techniques and tools, that's what this workshop teaches you to do.
Why should I join this workshop?

You have a basic understanding of open source investigations.

Research experience is not necessary. 

You plan to or already integrate open source investigation methods in your research projects

You would like to get new insights into several areas of open source investigations

You would like to gain (more) hands-on research experience supported by Bellingcat mentors
How do you screen participants?

We manually approve all applications after registration. We do basic due diligence checks on our participants to be sure that our trainers and all other participants are comfortable with their participation. Members of any police, military or intelligence service are not permitted registration at our workshops, and we allow government employees to join on a case-by-case basis.

Bellingcat reserves the right not to disclose the reasons for declining participation.

That said, the vast majority of participants are approved without any issue.
Who usually attends your workshops?

We have a pretty interesting mix of participants at our trainings. Between a third to a half come from private companies or the corporate world. Among those, we have plenty of information security researchers, corporate security investigators, lawyers, due diligence experts, and other professions. Journalists are the next-most popular profession for our workshops, and then we have a mix of human rights/NGO researchers, academics and students, and even retirees just curious about what this whole OSINT thing is all about.
Can I get an invoice?

In case you need an invoice, please send us an email to workshops@bellingcat.com. 
Can I receive a certificate for the workshops?

Sure! Just email us (workshops@bellingcat.com) after the workshop, and we’ll send you a PDF certificate.
Can I receive a recording of a workshop?

We do not record our workshops, or allow others to record them. However, we do provide copies of our training slides to participants after the completion of the training for their personal reference.
Can I gift a workshop seat to someone else?

Sure! We have had quite a few people buy workshop attendance for a loved one as a birthday or Christmas gift. Just let us know the name of the person who you are buying the seat for when registration so that we can do a basic due diligence check on them (see the Screening section up above). Feel free to email us at workshops@bellingcat.com to make sure we have their proper contact details so they get all of the invitation information on time.