The project ODOTHEKA, specifically following the publication of the scientific paper “Ancient Egyptian Mummified Bodies: Cross-Disciplinary Analysis of Their Smell” received extensive media coverage. TV 1. Renata Dacinger: “Smell Conservation“, programme Ugriznimo znanost, TV Slovenia, 17 Apr 2025 2. “‘Spicy’, ‘sweet’, ‘woody’: Why researchers are sniffing ancient Egyptian mummies“, ITV News, 14 Feb 2025 3. Associated Press: …
Description: Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in research, especially in natural sciences, engineering and medicine, but to a much lesser extent in the humanities. The appropriate understanding of the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in humanities research and in the preservation of cultural heritage (CH) is the main goal of the project, which also …
AID HCH – Advancing Humanities and Cultural Heritage with Artificial Intelligence Read More »
Heritage Science Laboratory Ljubljana is pleased to be offering a 4-year fully funded PhD position, starting on 1 Oct 2025. Project description This PhD project focuses on developing an advanced, non-destructive colorimetric sensor array for material characterization in heritage institutions. Such sensors, established e.g. in clinical breath analysis, have also shown promise in heritage science. The …
We are announcing the upcoming Expert Meeting 2: The Degradation of Weighted Silk Objects in Heritage Collections, which will take place on March 24–25, 2025, at the Slovenian Ethnographic Museum in Ljubljana. This event is part of the SAFESILK research project, a WEAVE initiative funded by FWO and ARIS, and is jointly organized by the …
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Ancient Egyptian mummified bodies smell ‘woody,’ ‘spicy’ and ‘sweet’, finds a new study led by researchers from the University of Ljubljana, revealing new details about mumification practices. The research, published in Journal of the American Chemical Society, is the first time that the smells of mummified bodies have been systematically studied combining a mix of …
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Dr. Idelfonso Bessa dos Reis Nogueira, expert in artificial intelligence and process systems engineering, is joining the Heritage Science Laboratory Ljubljana (HSLL). Dr. Nogueira is Associate Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, where he leads research at the intersection of artificial intelligence, systems optimization, digitalization, and automation. At HSLL, he will work …
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During the public discussion on the draft Protection of Cultural Heritage Act (ZVKD-2), Professor Dr Mojca Ramšak, who heads the project “Smell and Intangible Cultural Heritage“, submitted amendments to the Act on 28 January 2025 to expand the definition of intangible cultural heritage by including smell as a separate category in the concept of “sensory …
Ethnologists Dr Mojca Ramšak and Dr Karla Oder have teamed up to investigate the multi-layered meaning of sulphur smells in human experience. Their collaboration, which was planned even before the official launch of the project “Smell and intangible cultural heritage”, bridges the gap between tangible and intangible heritage through an innovative study of olfactory experiences. …
HSLL researchers have recently demonstrated that oxalic acid is the main contributor to the increased acidity in paper during natural degradation. In addition, they demonstrated that lignin, a natural component of historic paper particularly after 1850, is a main source of it. This finding is of key significance to the conservation of libraries and archives …
Breakthrough: Oxalic Acid Shown to be the Hidden Driver of Decay in Historic Paper Read More »
The Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency recentlz approved a new »large« project called AID HCH – Advancing Humanities and Cultural Heritage with Artificial Intelligence, to launch on 1 January 2025. This three-year initiative attracted €1.5M funding in total and addresses critical challenges in integrating AI into heritage science. AID HCH aims to establish Slovenia’s first …
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