IRES: U.S.-Netherlands Forensic Research Collaboration in Cultural Heritage Science

Northwestern University, Evanston IL

Investigators

Abstract

Scientific research in cultural heritage is a powerful vehicle for interdisciplinary, integrated and global science training in STEM graduate and undergraduate education and consistently exceeds STEM benchmarks of gender inclusion. This U.S.-Netherlands International Research Experience for Students (IRES) project supports three student cohorts, each consisting of one undergraduate and four graduate students, for research visits to the Netherlands to study the materials, structures and aging of cultural heritage artifacts. The program approaches the analysis of art as a way to provide unique research and educational experiences for U.S. student participants in chemistry, materials science, electrical engineering, and computer science. Led by Principal Investigator, Marc Walton, the cooperative activities with Dutch counterparts are designed to provide access to advanced infrastructure for interdisciplinary cultural heritage science while fostering long-term partnerships between recognized centers of excellence in the U.S. and the Netherlands. The goal is to advance our understanding of change in complex systems where results may lead to improvements in the way we access, interpret, and care for art. Where successful, resulting development of advanced technologies for detection of trace colorants, stand-off chemical sensing, and empirical and predictive models of materials alteration and change, at multiple time scales, can be important drivers for innovation in fields that range from forensics and security to high performance coatings. The eight-week IRES experience will be centered at the Atelier Building (Ateliergebouw) in Amsterdam, a core facility that brings together the University of Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum, the scientific research arm of the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, the Delft University of Technology, and the Netherlands Forensic Institute. In addition to the Dutch expert mentors from these institutions, collaborations with scientists at major U.S. museums such as The Art Institute of Chicago, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., will ensure timely focus to the IRES students' examination of technical questions related to identifying and characterizing important works of art. With access to cultural heritage scientists who are leaders in their field, the IRES participants are expected to contribute to the central theme of understanding and monitoring change in complex systems, including these areas: 1) microanalytical tools in art and forensics, 2) change and reactivity in complex paint systems, and 3) imaging and data mining. Upon return to the U.S., IRES participants are to present the results of their work at the Gordon Research Seminars on Scientific Methods in Cultural Heritage Research and at professional meetings in the sciences and in conservation. Overall, this IRES will contribute to a globally engaged U.S. science and engineering workforce, capable of excelling in interdisciplinary and international research environments, where science can be transformative.