The IPERION CH programme (Integrated Platform for the European Research Infrastructure On Cultural Heritage) will fund a European network of research infrastructures dedicated to the study of cultural artefacts until 2019. Praised during the evaluation process for its scientific quality, this project has been selected by the European Commission in the framework of its Horizon 2020 Strategy.
This project, coordinated by the Italian CNR, results from an in-depth dialogue between 23 partners from European Union Member States and from the United States. It gathers scientific instruments and competences, focusing on four activities:
- support to international users for the analysis of Heritage artefacts (access to large-scale facilities, mobile laboratory, scientific archives) ;
- methodological developments ;
- conferences and exchanges ;
- evolution towards a permanent infrastructure.
In France, IPERION CH benefits of the PATRIMA “Laboratory of excellence” and the PATRIMEX “Equipment of excellence”, to which access will be facilitated. Three French partners are taking part in IPERION CH: CNRS, Inria and the SOLEIL synchrotron facility. CNRS stands for several laboratories, including:
- Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France (IRCP–C2RMF, Paris) ;
- Institut photonique d’analyse non-destructive européen des matériaux anciens (IPANEMA, Saclay) ;
- Centre de recherche sur la Conservation – Laboratoire de recherche des monuments historiques (CRC, Paris – LRMH, Champs-sur-Marne)
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The funding of this project takes over from the support provided during the last 15 years in the framework of the Labstech, Eu-Artech and CHARISMA European programmes.
Through IPERION CH, European users will be supported in their research using advanced characterisation methods: large-scale facilities (synchrotron, neutron and ion beams), mobile laboratories, access to the scientific archives of the laboratories, data analysis. The project applies to a wide multidisciplinary scope, embracing all aspects of interpretation, conservation-restauration and study of material Heritage.
It also funds networking activities (conferences, seminaries) and an important research programme dedicated to the development of new approaches in the analysis of heritage goods, and to their practical application in the field of conservation and knowledge of museums, monuments and archaeological sites.
IPERION CH includes a substantial activity dedicated to data analysis and data sharing, in relation to the new DARIAH European infrastructure (Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities).
French laboratories involved :
- Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France (IRCP–C2RMF, Paris),
- Centre de recherche sur la conservation (CRC, Paris),
- Institut national de recherche en informatique et en automatique (Inria, Saclay),
- Institut photonique d’analyse non-destructive européen des matériaux anciens (IPANEMA, Saclay),
- Laboratoire de recherche des monuments historiques (LRMH, Champs-sur-Marne),
- SOLEIL Synchrotron (Saclay).