IPERION CH, the unique European Research Infrastructure for conservation and restoration of cultural heritage, just completed three years and a half of its lifespan supporting heritage science research.

It is a good time now to review goals and achievements.

Since its beginning in 2015, IPERION CH published 5 Trans-National Access calls to its three platforms: ARCHLAB, FIXLAB and MOLAB. About 120 TNA proposals were  selected by international panels which enabled access to more than 500 researchers. Their studies, in collaboration with major European museums and research institutions in heritage science, advanced our knowledge and helped to better preserve more than 200 European artworks.

Exciting discoveries were made by applying cutting-edge analytical techniques, in situ or in laboratories with a high level of experience in heritage diagnostics – through FIXLAB and MOLAB – and by consulting materials in scientific archives of European museums and institutions through ARCHLAB, acquiring new knowledge about techniques and materials used in the past. Many scientific papers were published in specialized journals and highlighted on the IPERION CH website.

It was a common belief that art and science be far apart fields, now that is not anymore true. Heritage science is the multidisciplinary domain where knowledge is created by new ways of working together across old disciplinary fences. To raise the awareness on this new methodologic approach of heritage science, IPERION CH organizes training camps and doctoral summer schools each year. To date, two successful Training Camps have been organized, one in Najera (Spain) and the other in Provins (France), along with two Doctoral Summer Schools (in Madrid and Paris), with lectures given by international experts, and teaching programmes balancing theory and practice. All training initiatives have seen a large participation of individuals or teams from public and / or private sectors and the same is expected for the next Doctoral Summer School to be held in Ravenna (Italy) from 16 to 20 July 2018.

Thanks to its successful activities, IPERION CH is setting a model for the coming E-RIHS, the European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science. E-RIHS will thus build on a vast experience, further outreaching to new user groups and heritage scholars.

Finally, a good news for our users: we just asked the European Community an extension of the project. We hope to be allowed to “stay open” for six more months until October 2019.  More exciting research projects to be completed without hurry in our access platforms! Just apply on www.iperionch.eu. Remember that the last TNA call of the project will close early in 2019. Follow us for more info.