A new PhD Research Opportunity jointly funded by Nottingham Trent University in the UK and University of Namur in Belgium is open.
An AI -aided data-driven approach to study the making, degradation and origin of historical parchments.
The student will have the opportunity to work in the Imaging and Sensing for Archaeology, Art history and Conservation (ISAAC) Lab at NTU, and in the Artificial Intelligence for Cultural Heritage (PHOENIX) collaborative research project at the University of Namur (Belgium).
The studentship covers the tuition fees and stipend. The successful candidate will be registered at both universities.
Project Description
Parchments are a writing material made from treated animal skins used for centuries to record important writings such as legal documents. In Europe and West Asia, it was the main writing surface from around the 4th century to around the 15th century. Understanding the origin, making and degradation of this important material will help to preserve the written record of European civilisation. Parchment is processed from animal skin, a fibrous material containing mainly collagen which degrades with time as any biological material. Over centuries, collagen in parchments suffers denaturation (through oxidation and hydrolysis) which can lead ultimately to its gelatinization.
In this project, the application of non-invasive analysis will be extended to imaging methods of a larger range of relevant modalities such as reflectance and fluorescence hyperspectral imaging to record the statistical variation across a parchment and manuscripts to improve the accuracy of machine learning or AI analysis. 3D topography and tomography information will be recorded using the non-invasive imaging method of optical coherence tomography (OCT).
An AI based method will be developed to disentangle the information. Where possible samples will be taken to be performed with the more precise proteomics analysis as reference and for verification of the results.
Entry Requirements
A motivated student with a physical science/bioinformatics background and an interest in heritage science including conservation science, archaeological science.
Application deadline: Monday 15 June 2026
For further information and to apply online, click here
Contacts
Professor Haida Liang, Nottingham Trent University, UK
Professor Olivier Deparis, University of Namur, Belgium
