About the programme
Recent recognition of science and heritage in the UK began in 2004 when London hosted the 6th European Commission conference on Sustaining Europe’s Cultural Heritage: From Research to Policy. The London Declaration on Sustaining Cultural Heritage Research which concluded the conference contributed to a process by which the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee came to its decision to hold an Inquiry on Science and Heritage. In 2006, its Report recommended:
- a dedicated programme of funding for research in science and heritage to be established by the research councils,
- the development of a heritage science strategy by the sector
- the appointment by DCMS of a Chief Scientific Adviser.
In 2007 the 5-year Science and Heritage Programme supported by AHRC and EPSRC was launched. The Science and Heritage Programme is supporting 39 projects or 14% of the 282 projects that bid for funding. This totals £6,866,771 of investment or 6.5% of over £105 million that was bid to the research councils. These statistics demonstrate a level of competitiveness and research excellence in science and heritage research in the UK which promises to deliver strong impact on stakeholders, practitioners and SMEs.
Demonstrating the effect of light-fading on one of the Sheldon tapestries. Image (c) Lore Troalen
