This section displays the PhD opportunities in Cultural Heritage available at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, where we believe that human-centred science and technology can solve the most pressing societal challenges of our time. At our Genoa headquarters and the other 11 centres, such as the Center for Cultural Heritage Technology (CCHT) in Venice, we offer a multidisciplinary scientific experience that will advance your professional life to the next level.

If you are interested in cultural heritage technology, our Venice centre is the place to be. We integrate expertise from computing and conservation sciences to deliver cutting-edge research. Our state-of-the-art instruments within the IIT network (such as one of the ThermoFishert Spectra 300, on the most advanced TEM microscopes in the world, and the High-Performance Computing Franklin, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe) give us the tools to make an impact in the scientific community and to publish in high-impact journals. A strong network of collaborators in internationally renowned centres opens up valuable academic and partnership opportunities.

As a CCHT PhD student, you will enjoy a series of benefits, including a designated office space, a personal laptop, and all the necessary tools to ensure a comfortable and productive work environment. You will also have access to highly specialised software (such as Origin, Matlab, ArcGIS, ENVI) as well as constant technical support. Additionally, you will have access to a large laboratory dedicated to developing new products for the conservation of Cultural Heritage, extra travel support, and the opportunity for direct involvement in ongoing research at CCHT.

Moreover, you will have the chance to collaborate with many key international research partners, such as Tufts University (US), the Institute of Natural Science and Technology in the Art, Antwerpen University, English Heritage, SESAME and ESRF Synchrotrons, ENS Paris Saclay, University of Amsterdam, and Chimie Paris, as well as cultural institutions like the Courtauld Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam, the Egyptian Museum of Turin, the Archaeological park of Pompeii, the Archaeological National Museum of Aquileia, and many more.

In addition to these benefits, you will also have access to IIT Facilities in Genoa headquarters, including:

• The Materials Characterization Facility (MCF) (https://mcf.iit.it/)
• The Analytical Chemistry Facility (ACF) (https://www.iit.it/it/web/analytical-chemistry-facility)
• The Clean Room (https://www.iit.it/it/web/clean-room)
• The Advanced Microscopy Facility (https://www.iit.it/it/web/electron-microscopy).

Overall, as a CCHT PhD student, you will have access to a variety of resources and opportunities that will enable you to excel in your research and contribute to the field of Cultural Heritage conservation.

Our mission is to make an impact with our technologies. We encourage you to consider the protection of your research by following technology transfer good practices. And if you are a startupper or a business-minded person, IIT is the place for you because there is a strong interest in innovation coupled with our exceptionally gifted professionals, ready to nurture and guide your aspirations.

At IIT, you will enjoy extensive training in soft skills such as teamwork, time management, and communication, highly valuable in the job market. Moreover, we are committed to creating an equal, inclusive, and multicultural environment that welcomes you with open arms. Our values of integrity, courage, societal responsibility, and inclusivity define us and our actions in everyday life, driving our mission to contribute to the improvement and well-being of society.

If you are looking for an innovative and stimulating environment where your work can have a real impact, come join us at IIT!

CCHT is funding the following
PhD Scholarships to be held at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice
for the Academic Years 2024-2027 (3-year cycle)

Apply here: ITA - ENG
Deadline May 23rd 

The scholarship is dedicated to developing technologically advanced solutions for protecting frescoes with challenging conservation conditions. The study will focus on recent nanotechnology discoveries, particularly catalytic nanomaterials. The project emphasises the significant potential offered by these new materials to overcome current technological limitations.  

The PhD candidate will work alongside ongoing research at the Center for Cultural Heritage Technology, initially focusing on designing and creating new formulations based on nanoparticles of various materials with advanced chemical functionalities. The candidate will then produce new formulations to overcome current limitations and issues through advanced approaches and engineering of nanomaterials. The properties of the new products powered by nanotechnologies will be tested on fresco and mosaic samples, closely mimicking archaeological composition, and based on the results, they will be evaluated for conservative applications on real archaeological materials.  

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Students interested in this position are required to contact the CCHT personnel in advance of their application to define the scientific project they will submit: ccht@iit.it. 

Additional details about the PhD scholarship and the CCHT IIT laboratories can be found at the following link: https://ccht.iit.it/doctoral-programmes

The scholarship is dedicated to developing technologically advanced solutions for developing new products for mosaic restoration. The study will revolve around recent discoveries in nanotechnology powered by synergy with biopolymers. The project leverages the immense potential opened by nanoparticles, cellulose-based materials, and graphene-related materials to overcome the current technological limitations.  

The PhD student will complement the ongoing research at the Center for Cultural Heritage Technology, initially working on designing and implementing new formulations composed of biopolymers and nanoparticles with advanced chemical functions powered by 2D materials such as graphene-based materials. Subsequently, the candidate will introduce the new preparations into injection mortars or other cementitious materials, aiming to surpass current mortar limitations using biopolymers, nanomaterials, and 2D materials. The properties of the new formulations will be tested on mosaic samples, and based on the results, they will be evaluated for conservative applications on real archaeological materials.  

 __________________

Students interested in this position are required to contact the CCHT personnel in advance of their application to define the scientific project they will submit: ccht@iit.it. 

Additional details about the PhD scholarship and the CCHT IIT laboratories can be found at the following link: https://ccht.iit.it/doctoral-programmes  

The scholarship is dedicated to develop new solutions for conserving archaeological metallic objects of historical and artistic interest based on recent discoveries related to metal oxide nanoparticles/porous silicon oxide and 2D materials such as boron nitride. The project will focus on the immense potential opened up by controlling materials at the nanostructure level to overcome current technological limitations.  

The PhD candidate will work alongside ongoing research at the Center for Cultural Heritage Technology, initially focusing on designing and creating new formulations based on metal oxide nanoparticles and 2D materials with advanced chemical functionalities. The candidate will then evaluate and develop structure-function relationships with the goal of overcoming limitations and issues through the introduction of advanced functionalities and engineering of nanomaterials. The properties of the new products enhanced by nanotechnologies will be tested on artificially aged bronze samples, and based on the results, they will be evaluated for conservative applications on objects of historical and cultural value.  

 __________________

Students interested in this position are required to contact the CCHT personnel in advance of their application to define the scientific project they will submit: ccht@iit.it. 

Additional details about the PhD scholarship and the CCHT IIT laboratories can be found at the following link: https://ccht.iit.it/doctoral-programmes 

The PhD research will focus on Artificial Intelligence approaches to identify anthropogenic and environmental traces of past landscape archaeological structures, operating on different remote sensing data.

In this framework, AI methods have been extensively used in the last decade to speed up and assist the screening of large datasets in all fields related to the study of ancient landscapes, overcoming the limitations of traditional approaches.

At CCHT, current projects are investigating new AI approaches to overcome the challenges posed by the scarcity of large training datasets, which currently hinder the enhancement of detection performance and generalisation capabilities for both anthropogenic and environmental features in remote sensing data.

The PhD candidate will support the ongoing research at the Center for Cultural Heritage Technology, working on implementing various semantic segmentation approaches based on generative methods or implicit neural representation for the automatic identification and monitoring of past landscape archaeological structures. The candidate will acquire hands-on experience in processing multi-source remote sensing data, including but not limited to multispectral, hyperspectral and LIDAR data.

The implemented AI methods will be applied and tested on selected case studies from different domains, such as environmental science, archaeology, and geomorphology.

__________________

Students interested in this position are required to contact the CCHT personnel in advance of their application to define the scientific project they will submit: ccht@iit.it. 

Additional details about the PhD scholarship and the CCHT IIT laboratories can be found at the following link: https://ccht.iit.it/doctoral-programmes