Heritage Science Workforce Research
NHSF is proud to act as the technical steering group for a major heritage and conservation science workforce research project by one of our member organisations, Icon (the Institute of Conservation). This research will provide the first comprehensive overview of the UK's heritage and conservation science workforce.
The research project is being delivered in stages by Icon, commissioned by the Research Infrastructure for Conservation and Heritage Science (RICHeS) through the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The programme will run from March 2026 - January 2027.
Heritage and Conservation Science Labour Survey
The workforce research project kicked off with a major labour survey, which ran over the summer of 2026 and closed on 31 August 2026. The survey aimed to generate a large-scale and robust dataset on the make-up of the heritage science community, current workforce capacity and levels of demand to understand the state of the sector. .As well as this, Icon assessed skills strengths, gaps and needs within the workforce, collected information on training, career pathways, and workforce conditions, and investigated access to specialist equipment and research infrastructure.
The survey covered all areas of practice across the wide swathe of scientific disciplines interacting with cultural heritage, such as archaeological, conservation, and built historic environment sciences. It was open to all individuals engaged in heritage and/or conservation science activity in the UK, as well as employers of heritage science professionals and organisations commissioning heritage or conservation science work.
View the Heritage and Conservation Science Workforce Survey (external link)
A PDF of the questions for organisations (employers/commissioners) can be accessed here: Organisation heritage and conservation science workforce survey questions (PDF)
Next Steps
Over the coming months, the next steps include using and expanding the survey data to create a nuanced and holistic picture of the UK heritage science sector. This includes conducting further quantitative and qualitative research:
- Focus groups and interviews to collect varied perspectives and lived experiences from heritage and conservation science professionals.
- Analysis of workforce capacity data (size, skills, demands), and investigation of major issues within the community, e.g. training needs, pay, job security, barriers to access and structural inequalities.
- Integration with existing UK labour market data and previous sector studies to provide wider context
All research will be collated into one major final report.
The goal is to engage organisations and individuals from across the wide and varied communities of heritage and conservation science practice in the UK, targeting heritage organisations (e.g. galleries, libraries, archives, museums, and others), academic and research institutions (including Higher Education Institutions), public sector bodies, commercial operators and charitable organisations.
Shaping the Future of UK Heritage Science
The results of this research will build a solid foundation through which to understand and support our heritage science community.
The Strategic Framework for Heritage Science 2024-2027 identifies key areas of action to strengthen and focus heritage science work in the UK. These boil down to three essential strands: enact measurable positive change for society resulting from heritage science, facilitate excellent research leading to new knowledge, understanding and innovation, and nurture an inclusive, confident, diverse and outward-looking heritage science community. The project will address several priorities highlighted across the framework by:
- Researching who makes up the heritage science community, capacity of the current workforce, and levels of demand.
- Researching skills strengths, gaps and needs.
- Addressing barriers to recruitment, retention and career progression.
- Connecting, and enabling access to, research capability (expertise, facilities and FAIR data) across the UK.
