PhD in Cultural and environmental heritage

1. Cultural and environmental heritage: memory, protection, rights
2. Science and Technologies for Cultural Heritage

Curriculum 1: Cultural and environmental heritage: memory, protection, rights

• Cultural heritage: Historic, social, economic, and cultural processes in European, Mediterranean, and Western Asian contexts; public history; conservation of ethno-cultural heritage and management of cultural resources in endangered areas.
• Environment, objects, rights diagnostic analysis of monumental and portable artefacts of historical interest; musealisation through digital and virtual modelling; promoting the appreciation and use of bio-environmental goods as common goods; legal and regulatory consequences.
• Environment and landscape, cities and architecture: tools for the analysis and conservation of the environment, biological and anthropological heritage, archaeology, urban settings, industrial archaeology, consolidation and restoration of historical architecture; the historical relationship between urban areas and their territories, sustainable development of tourism, fruition of historic towns.
• Governance and management of common goods: risk assessment and risk management, efficient use of resources, definition and quantification of ecosystemic service value, assessment of natural resource consumption and of production of solid, liquid, and gaseouse waste.

Curriculum 2: Science and Technologies for Cultural Heritage

Production techniques, material characterization, state of conservation:

• Development of: advanced analytical protocols (spectroscopy, immune chemistry, DFT, chemometrics), micro and non-invasive diagnostic methods, intervention methods on humidity phenomena of historical buildings, interaction with pollutants, tomographic systems (digital radiography, X-Ray computer tomography, software for real-time tomography and 3D rendering.
• Development of innovative restoration materials and methods. Design, development, testing and performance evaluation of innovative materials (nanomaterials, polymers, biopolymers, composite materials) and methods for the consolidation, cleaning and protection of both movable and immovable cultural heritage.

Survey, monitoring and representation technologies:

• Definition of protocols and standards for the production of 3D contents aimed at monitoring cultural heritage, methods and protocols for the production of 3D models with semantic structure to be applied to cognitive systems
• Design of web-based application for the archiving and use of technical-scientific data related to conservation and restoration projects
• Production contents and design of augmented reality systems, efficient workflows, survey and monitoring multiscale
• Integrated techniques integrated by topographic, photogrammetric, laser scanner and special positioning
• UAV survey for data management
• Acquisition with multispectral sensors and scanners
• GIS applications
• 3D models (development of new procedures for the collection and optimal elaboration
• ICT methodologies and techniques for the creation, analysis and representation (virtual reality and augmented/ mixed reality) and multi sensorial interaction by means of digital data.

NRRP Call - Further PhD Positions
Appointed by RD 952/2022 Prot. n. 0357333 of 02/12/2022

NRPP Call Admission Board
Appointed by RD 1103/2022 Prot. n. 0162873 of 17/07/2022

* The following shall take part in the work of the Examination Board as expert members for positions linked to specific research topics:

• Marco Tagliabue - Eni SpA
• Giuseppe Prioli - Mare Scarl

Call for Application Admission Board
Appointed by RD 830/2022 Prot. n. 0127511 of 30/05/2022

The substantive goal of the PhD in Cultural and Environmental Heritage is to bridge the many different perspectives involved in the study of cultural and environmental processes under one, cross-disciplinary perspective, favouring a new approach that focuses on transversal research questions rather than on issues limited to an individual discipline.
To date, the study of Cultural and Environmental Heritage has privileged mono-disciplinary perspectives that could achieve excellent levels of speacialisation. Fully integrated, multi-disciplinary approaches entailing a close collaboration between humanities, biological sciences, social sciences, and law – such as the one proposed in the present programme – are still severely underrepresented. This transversal research will be conducted into shared structures and laboratories, and will aim to train Doctors of Philosophy who are highly specialised and yet able to participate to multidisciplinary research teams.

Curriculum in "Cultural and Environmental Heritage - Memory, Protection, Rights" /
Macro-themes:

• Cultural heritage: religious background to musical heritage, collectionism, appreciacion and preservation of historic-artistic, archival, and audio-visual heritage; history and culture of Mediterranean and Western Asian civilizations; public history, with orientation to general public dissemination; conservation of ehtno-cultural heritage and diversity.
• Environment, objects, and rights: diagnostic analysis of monumental and portable artifacts of historical interest; musealization through digital and virtual modelling; promoting the appreciation and use of bio-environmental goods as common goods; legal and regulatory consequences.
• Environment and landscape, cities and architecture: tools for the analysis and conservation of the environment, biological, anthropological and archaeological heritage, urban settings, industrial archaeology, restoration of historical architecture, the historical relationship between urban areas and their territory, sustainable development of tourism, fruition of historic towns.
• Governance and management of common goods: risk assessment and risk management, efficient use of resources, definition and quantification of ecosystemic service value, assessment of natural resource consumption and of the production of solid, liquid, and gaseouse waste.

Curriculum “Science and Technologies for Cultural Heritage” /
Focused on technologies related to conservation and restoration of cultural heritage by joining techniques for material characterisation, assessment of the state of conservation, synthesis of new materials, advanced diagnostics, ICT, and documenting/monitoring material cultural heritage. Students will be part of pure/applied experimental research projects in which they will take advantange of collaborations with both public and private international research institutions.

The program aims to provide high-level knowledge across a number of specific topics, as well as multidisciplinary skills for the development of advanced theory and methods for conservation, preservation, and management of common goods from an environmental, cultural, and juridical perspective.
Both curricula will involve:

• 1st Year: Three interdisciplinary seminars attended by all students and focused on topics bridging environmental, cultural, and juridical themes - planned by the Doctoral Committee and held by world-renowned scholars, University of Bologna staff, and renown professionals from relevant Institutions and Enterprises. Three additional seminars specifically centered on the chosen research topics that can be attended at other Campuses or Universities, provided approval is granted by the Doctoral Committee.
• 2nd Year: Three interdisciplinary seminars attended by all students and focused on topics bridging environmental, cultural, and juridical themes - planned by the Doctoral Committee and held by world-renowned scholars, staff of the University of Bologna, and renown professionals employed by relevant Institutions and Enterprises. Three additional seminars specifically centered on the chosen research topics that can be attended at other Campuses or Universities, providing approval by the Doctoral Committee.
• 3rd year: Advanced Summer/Winter School (alternative to international mobility and specializing professional internships conducted in the triennium) to complete the training activities. A course focused on national and international funding schemes, international mobility schemes, project writing and general research skills.

Further learning activities through the program: English; orientation on research work (academy, innovation).
Annual monitoring of the progress of each doctoral candidate is planned through presentations at the end of each year at the presence of tutors, the Doctoral Committee, and prominent academics and professionals.

The PhD programme presents with a marked international vocation expressed through:

• The advertisement of courses and activities in international websites, to facilitate applications from international students;
• Teaching and lectures held by world-leading international experts whose participation is funded or co-funded by the Univeristy of Bologna (e.g. invited international scholars already approved by the Institute of Advanced Studies)
• Drawing on the international network of Committee members and their institutions to offer stages and internships in international and overseas research centres. The official PhD website will provide links to the helpdesk of the Ravenna Campus International Office. Through this link international students can receive support upon arrival (welcome week, buddy system, language courses, etc), and ask questions related to visa, residence permit, and medical assistance.
• The presence of a Curriculum in English (“Science and Technologies for Cultural Heritage”) aimed at studying technological innovations related to conservation and restoration of Cultural Heritage. Based on previous experience, it is expected that this particular Curriculum will generate a positive feedback on the general level of internationalisation.
• Memorandum of Understandings and multiannial co-tutele agreements with prestigious international academic institutions (among which UNA Her Doc).

Doctoral courses that preceded the present proposal were already characterised by a considerable degree of interaction with international partners and scholars.
The PhD includes also four fully founded scholarships (from ERC Consolidator n. 772544) and two co-financed scholarships (H2020 FLEXJET, ITALIA- CROAZIA PRIZE FISH, respectively) from Internationl projects.

The PhD programme is aimed at providing researchers and qualified experts/professionals with the cross-disciplinary training necessary to conjugate complementary sources of knowledge and to develop an advanced body of method and theory for conservation, protection, and management of our heritage. This result will entail at the same time cultural, environmental, and legal perspectives, and will benefit from an adequate historical contextualisation, as well as from the acquisition of effective skills for valorization and dissemination to the broad public. Doctors of Philosophy are expected to:

• handle complex problem-solving tasks within both public institutions and private enterprises or corporations;
• propose new management and fruition strategies at different operational scales. During the three-year PhD programme, the candidate is also expected to publish papers, monograph, and present results at national and international conferences.