Position at Royal Institution of Great Britain

Objects Conservator
The Michael Faraday Museum
The Royal Institution (Ri) of Great Britain
UKP20,364 a year (point 12 on the Ri scale) subject to review
Supported by MLA Prism Fund

Full-Time position for one year with possibility of renewal for a
further year

21 Albemarle Street
London W1S 4BS
Closing Date: Friday  30 of September, 2005
Interviews will be held on 11 October 2005

The Ri's <URL:http://www.rigb.org/rimain/heritage/index.jsp> mission
is to communicate science through public programmes and education,
to undertake scientific research and to conserve its heritage. It is
currently undertaking an exciting HLF supported UKP13.2 million
redevelopment programme 'Science in the Making' in its
eighteenth-century building. The Collections of the Royal
Institution include scientific apparatus, manuscripts, books and
works of art that relate to those who have lived, researched and
lectured in the building.  The redevelopment project intends to
display every object within the Collections. The Collections include
material relating to great scientists such as including Humphry
Davy, Michael Faraday, John Tyndall, James Dewar, William Bragg,
Lawrence Bragg and, more recently, George Porter. The heritage
significance of the Collections lies not only in the intrinsic merit
of a particular item, but also in the fact that the vast majority of
items have remained in the building since their creation.

In terms of scientific artifacts the Royal Institution has the
earliest miners' safety lamp (invented by Davy), early chemical
samples (e.g. benzene discovered by Faraday), the first electric
transformer and generator (Faraday), the first thermos flasks
(Dewar), and some very early lasers (Porter) amongst much else.

This is an opportunity to join the Collections Team working for the
first time on the apparatus collection within the Ri. Your role will
involve providing a wide range of interventive and preventive
conservation treatments to a wide range of materials, to be
exhibited for the first time.

You will need a recognised qualification in conservation, or
equivalent training. You will have excellent project management
skills and the ability to work within a multi-experienced team. You
should have a broad experience in the examination and treatment of a
wide range of materials.  Computer and photography skills are
essential.

A CV together with a letter of application (including the name and
contact points of two referees) should be sent to

    Katharine St Paul
    Curator of Collections
    The Royal Institution
    21 Albemarle Street,
    London W1S 4BS
    kstpaul<-a t->ri< . >ac< . >uk

by 30 September 2005.

Katharine St Paul
Curator of Collections,
The Royal Institution,
+44 20 7670 2923

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 19:12
                Distributed: Wednesday, August 31, 2005
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