Workshops

Choose from one of our three different workshops when you register to attend the conference.

The three conference workshops take place in parallel during the afternoon between 14:00-15:30.

RICHeS: Empowering Conservation and Heritage Science through a Distributed Research Infrastructure

This interactive workshop will provide updates on the Research Infrastructure for Conservation and Heritage Science (RICHeS) and explore its transformative impact on the conservation and heritage science community. Through case studies and collaborative discussions, attendees will gain valuable insights into how RICHeS is shaping the future of conservation and heritage science across the UK.

The session will highlight RICHeS' role in expanding access to innovative facilities, equipment, collections, expertise and digital resources. An interactive segment will showcase case studies from the 31 Tranche 1 RICHeS-funded projects, demonstrating real-world applications of RICHeS support within the conservation and heritage science sector. This includes an introduction to the Heritage Science Data Service (HSDS), RICHeS' digital repository, which aims to enhance data accessibility and the use of heritage science data across the sesctor.

Attendees will also learn how to engage with the programme, leverage cutting-edge infrastructure and collaborate with RICHeS-supported projects to advance their conservation and research initiatives.

Members of the RICHeS team will be available for follow-up discussions and networking.

 

Speed Mentoring for Emerging Professionals

Led by the Icon Heritage Science Group

This interactive session offers emerging professionals the chance to connect with experienced and recognised professionals in the heritage science field. Through one-to-one short sessions (10 minutes) with experts from the UK and with international experience, participants will engage in meaningful dialogue designed to provide guidance, support and insight for their individual career development.

Organised as a series of timed rounds, each mentee may by randomly assigned up to three one-to-one conversations (subject to availability) with mentors with different areas of expertise within the cultural heritage sector, ranging from museum practice to academic research. At the end of your sessions, you will meet the other mentees or ask questions to the organisers from Icon and NHSF.

Meet some of our mentors...

  • Adam Gibson is Professor of Medical Physics and Heritage Science at UCL
  • Archie Graf is an Experimental Officer at the National X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy facility (HarwellXPS)
  • Carl Heron is Head of Scientific Research at the British Museum
  • Jim Williams is the Historic England Senior Science Advisor

This initiative offers a rare opportunity for early-career researchers and professionals to obtain tailored advice, pose targeted questions and explore strategies for overcoming the complexities of this competitive field. Topics may include identifying suitable career pathways, navigating institutional frameworks, tackling grant applications and setting realistic milestones for sustained professional growth.

The session exemplifies the joint commitment of NHSF and Icon Heritage Science Group to fostering meaningful engagement, knowledge exchange and capacity building within the heritage-science community.

 

Open access apps for preventive conservation: using damage functions in practice

Prof Matija Strlic, Professor of Analytical Chemistry, University of Ljubljana

Josep Grau-Bove, UCL

David Thickett, English Heritage Trust

Quantitative modelling of loss is an established risk assessment approach in collections management. The impact of preventative measures on the expected lifetime of objects or entire collections is based on damage functions, representing the decay of a property linked mostly to the utility value of an object. Such functions are based on experimental research or observations of real, often sacrificial objects, and enable comparative assessment of environmental control, e.g. humidity, temperature, or pollution, as well as on threshold values of a material property crucial to conservation or access.

Several open access apps have been developed to assist in the evaluation of environmental impacts on individual collection materials, some interactive, where users input their own environmental data to customise outputs.

We will explore the modelling of different types of damage processes, using open-access online apps.

Workshop participants will be invited to reflect on the strengths and limitations of these models, and provide feedback on the underlying concepts and utility of such tools for teaching or decision making.

Delegates will gain familiarisation with collections demography terminology, understanding of key concepts in quantitative risk assessment, practical use of open access apps.

Delegates are invited to use the apps in advance of the workshop and/or bring own laptops/smartphones to use during the session.