Studentships at Heritage Smells project

PhD studentships (2)
The British Museum, The British Library, University College London.

Start date: 1 September 2010.

Title of Project: Heritage Smells!

Supervisor: Dr. L. T. Gibson, Dept. of Pure and Applied Chemistry,
University of Strathclyde

Joint Funding Source: Science and Heritage Programme of the Arts and
Humanities Research Council (AHRC) /

Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC).

Collaborators: The British Museum, The British Library, University
College London.

Partners: English Heritage, National Museums of Scotland, National
Archives of Scotland, Owlstone Ltd.

Application Process: Students currently holding, or students
expecting to attain, a 1st or 21 class degree in the Physical
Sciences, should email a copy of their C.V. to Dr L. T. Gibson
(lorraine [dot] Gibson [at] strath [dot] ac [dot] uk).

Summary of Research:

Experts in science (chemistry, physics, statistics), heritage
science and sensor technology will drive an ambitious but realistic
proposal to develop diagnostic olfactory tools for heritage science.
The new devices will be noninvasive, non-contact, portable and
simple to use providing real-time data; making them well suited to
address cultural heritage questions and survey collections,
particularly for objects where potential hazards, access issues or
sampling restrictions have precluded study to date.

By merely 'sniffing' the air, questions regarding the environmental
and conservation history, composition, condition or stability of
objects will be answered. This will empower collections custodians
and allow informed decisions about the acquisition, storage,
conservation, display and long-term preservation of items, whilst
also ensuring the health of those accessing public and private
collections.

The research will, in part, focus on 2 interconnected PhD challenge
areas with Dr Gibson at the University of Strathclyde as primary
supervisor.

The 'Pesticide' Challenge: Studentship 1

    Hazardous chemicals were used to disinfect/disinfest cultural
    heritage objects. Identification of pesticides, fungicides used
    in ethnographic and natural history collections is imperative to
    ensure the well-being of those handling, working with or
    accessing objects that may be emitting volatile carcinogenic and
    deleterious agents. This challenge seeks to answer: (i) can VOCs
    be used to identify treated materials? (ii) can a high
    throughput screening technique be developed to identify 'safe'
    materials? (iii) can tests be performed in-situ, non-invasively
    and with little/no material interaction? (iv) what guidance can
    be given to ensure 'safe' access to suspect materials?

    Research within this challenge area will be co-supervised by Dr
    Higgitt at the British Museum and involve participation by, and
    site visits to, the British Museum, the National Museums of
    Scotland and the National Archives of Scotland.

The 'Modern Materials' Challenge: Studentship 2

    Objects that contain synthetic, complex and inherently unstable
    modern materials, particularly plastics-based materials, are
    becoming integral parts of heritage collections at ever
    increasing rates, both reflecting the increasing use of these
    materials in modern society and the interest in their own
    artistic qualities and interpretation. As recent additions to
    heritage collections, these contemporary materials have not all
    been studied in depth and knowledge about chemical decomposition
    pathways remain limited. Research questions regarding the
    durability of modern materials used in large technological
    collections and artifacts, as well as contemporary art objects,
    need to be addressed now: Can (i) non-destructive, non contact
    on-site methods of analysis be used to identify, characterise
    and categorise modern materials? (ii) the study of VOC patterns
    indicate stability and risk? (iii) VOCs lead to the
    understanding, and hence retardation of, chemical deterioration
    pathways leading to improved storage/display environments and
    priorities for preservation action?

    Research within this challenge area will be co-supervised by Dr
    Strlic at University College London and involve participation
    by, and site visits to, the British Museum, the National Museums
    of Scotland and English Heritage.

Dr Barry Knight
Head of Conservation Research
The British Library
96 Euston Road
London NW1 2DB
+44 20 7412 7229
Fax: +44 20 7412 7658


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 23:41
                 Distributed: Saturday, April 24, 2010
                       Message Id: cdl-23-41-023
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