Studentship at Cardiff University

PhD studentship
Investigation into the corrosion of archaeological iron and methods
    for achieving stability in the storage and display of artefacts
Cardiff University

Applications are invited for an AHRC Collaborative PhD studentship,
to be held in Cardiff University under the supervision of Senior
Lecturer David Watkinson and Conservation Scientist Dr Quanyu Wang,
British Museum. The studentship is for a three-year, full-time
project to commence in October 2007.

The survival of archaeological iron as a cultural heritage resource
remains in doubt, despite considerable research into its corrosion,
treatment and storage. The proposed project will contribute
fundamentally to understanding the conservation of chloride-infested
iron via rigorous, reproducible and quantified experimental work. It
will quantify chloride removal from archaeological iron using
selected treatment techniques. The degree to which iron has been
stabilised by these treatments will be measured as a function of
selected ambient relative humidity values and correlated to the
amount of chloride remaining in the iron. These results will be
combined with current understanding of the corrosion of
chloride-infested iron at low relative humidity to recommend
suitable safe storage environments for treated iron. The objective
of the project is to provide a fully researched treatment whose
effectiveness is quantified and linked to a long-term storage design
for archaeological iron within museum contexts.

This studentship covers tuition fees at the UK/EU rate and provides
a maintenance stipend at the UK Research Council minimum level
(UKP12,600 for 2007/8) for each of the three years of study, with an
additional allowance of UKP500 per annum is provided by the Council
to each full time student. This stipend will be enhanced by the
British Museum by an additional UKP1,000 per annum, giving an
overall maintenance allowance of UKP14,100 per year.

Applicants must have a relevant first degree (usually a minimum 2.1)
and normally a postgraduate degree. Other experience may be eligible
in place of a postgraduate degree.

This studentship is open to UK/EU students only. Full details of
AHRC eligibility criteria are available at
<URL:http://www.ahrc.ac.uk>.

For informal enquiries, please contact

    David Watkinson
    watkinson [at] cardiff__ac__uk or

    Quanyu Wang
    qwang [at] thebritishmuseum__ac__uk

Further information, including details of how to apply, is also
available at <URL:http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/postgraduate/pgfunding>
and at <URL:http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/hisar>

The deadline for applications is Monday June 18 2007. Interviews
will be held in Cardiff on 29 June 2007.

Dr. Quanyu Wang
Conservation Scientist
Conservation, Documentation and Science
The British Museum
Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DG
+44-20-7323 8981
Fax: +44-20-7323 8276


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 21:6
                  Distributed: Saturday, May 26, 2007
                        Message Id: cdl-21-6-007
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