Fully funded PhD studentship available – FINISHED

The HSLL is pleased to announce one fully funded 4-year heritage science PhD studentship starting 1 Oct 2021. We are looking for outstanding applicants with an MSc in chemistry, engineering, environmental science, conservation or other relevant disciplines, with a good knowledge of chemical experimental sciences and data analysis. The successful applicant will have a minimal average grade of 8.00 (80.0%) achieved during the university studies and will need to pass a formal selection procedure initiated by the University of Ljubljana, announced here as soon as possible. Applications are open to anyone regardless of nationality and country of residence.

Deadline: 17 May 2021

To apply, send us your CV and a project description of no more than 1 page (in English), following the topic outline:

The understanding and modelling of organic heritage material degradation is important from the point of view of optimal long-term storage or display. Although the chemistry of degradation processes is often well known, a detailed quantitative understanding of the effects of relevant environmental variables is often lacking.

Damage functions describe the dependance of changes in measurable material properties on environmental variables such as temperature, humidity, concentration of pollutants or light intensity, or combinations thereof. In the process of heritage collection management, such functions enable the prioritisation of those variables that have the most pronounced effect on degradation, which is why their development is crucial.  The heterogeneity and diversity of heritage materials as well as their relative durability, require the development of a complex experimental plan, as well as an understanding of uncertainties of the model input parameters. Using diverse methods of uncertainty evaluation and sensitivity analysis, the student will develop a damage function for the chosen heritage material, as well as evaluate the uncertainty of lifetime predictions.

In the frame of the PhD Dissertation, it is expected that a damage function will be developed for a selected heritage material of organic origin, that the uncertainty of predictions based on the model will be evaluated and that the results will be visualised in a manner accessible to users. The successful candidate will collaborate with international heritage institutions, consult on user needs and meaningfully adapt the project plan. The student will become a member of our research teams working on relevant EU-funded projects.

The HSLL research facilities and the HSLL Reference Collections will be freely available to the researcher, access to a variety of other required research equipment may be negotiatied with partner institutions.

Sample literature on the subject:

M. Strlič, C. Grossi-Sampedro, C. Dillon, N. Bell, K. Fouseki, P. Brimblecombe, E. Menart, K. Ntanos, W. Lindsay, D. Thickett, F. France, G. De Bruin: Damage Function for Historic Paper. Part III: Isochrones and Demography of Collections, Her. Sci. 3 (2015) #40

A. Fenech, C. Dillon, K. Ntanos, N. Bell, M. Barrett, M. Strlič: Modelling the Lifetime of Colour Photographs in Archival Collections, Stud. Conserv., 58 (2013) 107-116

This is a preliminary announcement and subject to change until the above mentioned University selection process is formally announced. Upon selection, the candidate must be able to ensure the right to employment in the Republic of Slovenia. Social and health insurance are covered. We are an equal opportunities employer.

For further information related to the PhD topic, please contact the supervisor, prof. dr. Matija Strlic.

Applications should be sent to the HSLL Manager.

4 thoughts on “Fully funded PhD studentship available – FINISHED”

    1. Hello Ermioni, there is no formal deadline available yet. We will ensure that it is posted here as soon as available. However, we strongly encourage anyone interested to get in touch with the supervisor to discuss the topic and submit the project idea and the CV in advance. As soon as the formal deadline is available, we will hold a series of interviews with the shortlisted candidates. I hope this answers the question, but please do get in touch by email!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *