A word that signifies an interest in something but in an academic sense?

I may be mistaken here but to me if I say that I have an "interest" in something, the other person might assume that I view that thing in a positive light (e.g. "I am interested in the stock market" could be perceived as "I like the stock market"). Is there a word which will signify not only that I am interested in something but that I am interested in a purely academic sense?

For example, I would feel uncomfortable saying "I am interested in serial killer’s psychopathy and childhood trauma". What word could I replace "interested" with that would more or less mean "I am interested in serial killer’s psychopathy and childhood trauma but in a purely academic sense"?

I looked at synonyms for ‘interested’ that could convey that I am interested but that don’t have the positive connotations that are attributed to the word. ‘Absorbed’ and ‘engrossed’ came up but those seem to be stronger words than merely just interested so they don’t help. ‘Intrigued’ and ‘curiosity’ also came up and those seem to be pretty much the same as ‘interested’ and appear to have the same connotation as well.

I might be wrong to assume the positive connotation of ‘interested’ or ‘intrigued’ but I usually see it in writing and speech with such a connotation. What do you think? Is there a word that could fit better than ‘interested’ or ‘intrigued’? Am I wrong to assume a positive connotation when there is none?