Studentship at National Museums Scotland

Historic Dye Analysis:
Method Development and New Applications in Cultural Heritage

    Dr. Alison N. Hulme / Prof. Hamish McNab
    Dr. Jim Tate (National Museums Scotland)
    Jane Rowlands and Helen M. Hughes (Glasgow Museums)

This is a 3 year PhD project open to UK and European Union
nationals.

Background: Dr. Alison Hulme and Prof. Hamish McNab have had a
longstanding collaboration with the National Museums Scotland in the
area of historic textile dyestuffs which has resulted in the
publication of more than 14 papers in scientific conservation,
botanic and analytical journals. To date, two postgraduate students
have successfully completed PhD programmes in this area and have
gone on to work in conservation science at the National Gallery,
London and in the Swiss Institute of Art, Zurich.

Research Project: This EPSRC/AHRC-funded project is an exciting
opportunity to directly link scientific investigation with
historical and cultural research on the internationally significant
collections of medieval tapestries held at the Burrell Collection,
and ethnographic material at the National Museums Scotland. By
better understanding the scientific nature of the changes to these
collections historians and custodians will be better equipped to
interpret them. There are three main aims of the project. First, we
shall use well-established dye analysis methods to build new
information about the extensive Burrell tapestry collection--one of
the 20 largest collections in Europe. Second, we shall extend these
methods to the extraction and identification of dyes and dye sources
used on natural materials used in non-European traditions. Finally,
we shall expand our methods into the field of early synthetic dyes,
which have been much less studied than the natural dyes and identify
where these have been used in restoration.

Qualifications: This studentship will be awarded on the basis of
academic excellence. Successful candidates will hold, or should
expect to obtain, a 1st class or upper 2nd class MChem or a 1st
class BSc (or equivalent) in chemistry or analytical chemistry, and
a desire to work at the interface of chemistry, analytical chemistry
and conservation science.

Start date: September 2008

Contact Details:

    Alison N. Hulme
    +44 131 650 4711
    Fax: +44 131 650 4743
    alison.hulme<-a t->ed< . >ac< . >uk
    <URL:http://homepages.ed.ac.uk/anh01/index.html>

    Hamish McNab
    Fax: +44 131 650 4743
    h.mcnab<-a t->ed< . >ac< . >uk +44 131 650 4718
    <URL:http://www.chem.ed.ac.uk/staff/academic/mcnab.html>

Address:

    School of Chemistry
    The University of Edinburgh
    Joseph Black Building
    King's Buildings
    West Mains Rd
    Edinburgh EH9 3JJ

Application procedures: In the first instance you should make
informal contact with either Dr. Alison Hulme or Prof. Hamish McNab
by email, attaching a CV which clearly states your qualifications
and the names and contact details of two referees.

The standard University application forms
<URL:http://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/postgraduate/applications/forms.html>
will then need to be completed. If your first language is not
English, you must provide evidence of competence

    <URL:http://www.ed.ac.uk/
        studying/postgraduate/international/language.html>

in both written and spoken English.


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 21:54
                  Distributed: Friday, April 11, 2008
                       Message Id: cdl-21-54-032
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