The Center for Cultural Heritage Technology is funding two scholarships linked to two Ph.D. positions available at the PhD Program in Environmental Science of the University Ca’ Foscari of  Venice. The selected PhD students will work on the identification of anthropogenic and environmental features from remote sensing imagery using artificial intelligence approaches. Their research will be linked to ongoing projects in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI).

Specifically, the research will focus on:

Project 1: Detection of sub-surface archaeological sites on multispectral and hyperspectral Satellite data available through Copernicus and third-party missions' platforms using GIS software and off-the-shelf change detection methods based on the identification of seasonal changes of the terrain and of the vegetation that could be connected to the presence of archaeological deposits under them.

Project 2: Detection of sherds of material culture visible on the ground surface from airborne/droneborne data using GIS software and off-the-shelf semantic segmentation methods. The shape of sherds will be used as a marker for their identification. 

The research will be undertaken within CCHT facilities, in strict collaboration with CCHT experts in Cultural Heritage, Machine Learning and Conservation Sciences and under the supervision of University of Venice researchers. The fellowships include stipend, travel allowance for conferences and training, and secondments in other universities and research centers abroad.

Applicants are required to contact the CCHT in advance to define the specific topic of research.

The official call is available at this link: PHD degree | how to apply (English version) Dottorati di Ricerca | Come partecipare (Italian version).

Do not hesitate to contact us for any questions: ccht@iit.it

Deadline for application: 2^nd May 2022