1) The historical and artistic literature of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries: handwritten reports regarding the layout of the pictorial, sculptural and architectural heritage of Bologna; manuscript autobiographies of artists; relations of travels; theoretical treatises on the three arts of the drawing; lectures and academic conferences; treatises and precepts related to artistic techniques and conservation methods (16th-19th centuries)
2) Bolognese painting from the age of Controriforma to the second part of Eighteenth century, from the consequences of the presence in Bologna of Card. Paleotti to the outcome of the reforms and patronage of Benedict XIV
3) The scientific representation and the evolution of naturalistic attention towards forms of descriptive decorativism from the secondo half to XVI to Eighteenth century
4) Sculptural painting and academic ascendancy from the Age of the Enlightments to the Neoclassical Age
5) The role of the papal government through impositions, choices, patronage in the paths of the figurative arts in the second city of the state
6) Protection of works of art and monuments in natural and man-made hazard areas
7) The relationship between European art and the New World
8) Development and application of advanced computer technologies to knowledge, preservation and enhancement of historic centers and cultural emergencies in the Balkan countries
