Doctoral scholarship holder, Conservation-Restoration and Heritage science, focussing on Hydrophobic and water-impermeable textiles for the applied arts and hippomobiles

Department: Heritage
Regime Full-time

Let’s shape the future – University of Antwerp

The University of Antwerp  is a dynamic, forward-thinking, European university. We offer an innovative academic education to more than 20.000 students, conduct pioneering scientific research and play an important service-providing role in society. We are one of the largest, most international, and most innovative employers in the region. With more than 6000 employees from 100 different countries, we are helping to build tomorrow’s world every day. Through top scientific research, we push back boundaries and set a course for the future – a future that you can help to shape.

The research group Antwerp Cultural Heritage Sciences (ARCHES ) of the Faculty of Design Sciences is looking for a full-time doctoral scholarship holder in the interdisciplinary field of Conservation-Restoration and Heritage science, focussing on Hydrophobic and water-impermeable textiles for the applied arts ?and hippomobiles in the KMKG-MRAH (15th to the 19th centuries)?.

Position

• You will work actively on the preparation and defence of a PhD thesis dedicated hydrophobic and water-impermeable textiles for the applied arts and hippomobiles from the 15th  to the 19th
• More in particular, your work will focus on the study of historical textual sources and the production of mock-ups with the aim to understand both the making process and degradation parameters. The veracity of the insights obtained will be benchmarked with historical heritage objects in the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels (KMKG-MRAH).
• You will publish your results in WoS journals with impact factor.
• You will carry out a limited number of teaching support tasks.

Profile

• You hold a master’s degree in conservation-restoration, heritage science or organic chemistry applied to cultural heritage, or you will have obtained it by the time you start work. A background in object, paint/polychromy and/or textile conservation and its latest developments is desirable.
• You can demonstrate expertise in material-technical research of heritage objects.
• You can demonstrate experience with the study of technical art history (e.g., reading and interpreting historical art technical sources and/or reconstructing historical recipes).
• You can demonstrate a basic understanding of the degradation of heritage materials.
• You can demonstrate a basic knowledge of scientific analytical methods that are used in the field of heritage conservation.
• You can demonstrate excellent study results.
• Your teaching competences are in line with the University of Antwerp’s educational vision .
• Your research qualities are in line with the faculty and university research policies .
• You act with attention to quality, integrity, creativity, and cooperation.
• You can speak and write English fluently.
• Reading French and/or German texts is considered a plus.

What we offer

• We offer a full-time doctoral scholarship for a period of two years. Following a positive evaluation, the scholarship can be renewed once for another two-year period.
• The planned start date is 1 February 2023 or as soon as possible after that date.
• Your monthly scholarship amount is calculated according to the scholarship amounts  for doctoral scholarship holders on the pay scales for contract research staff (Dutch: Bijzonder Academisch Personeel, BAP).
• You will be given access to state-of-the-art equipment and key museum collections.
• You will receive ecocheques, Internet-connectivity allowance and a bicycle allowance or a full reimbursement of public transport costs for commuting.
• You will do most of your work at the city campus in a dynamic and stimulating working environment.
• Find out more about working at the University of Antwerp here .

Want to apply?

• You can apply for this vacancy through the University of Antwerp’s online job application platform up to and including 28 November 2022 (by midnight Brussels time). Click on the ‘Apply’ button, complete the online application form and be sure to include the following attachments: a motivation letter and your academic CV.
• The selection committee will review your application as soon as possible after the application deadline. As soon as a decision has been made, we will inform you about the next steps in the selection procedure. Please take note of the following date: 6 December 2022.
• If you have any questions about the online application form, please check the frequently asked questions  or send an email to jobs@uantwerpen.be . If you have any questions about the job itself, please contact Natalia Ortega Saez natalia.ortegasaez@uantwerpen.be  and Vincent Cattersel vincent.cattersel@uantwerpen.be

Context

Since prehistoric times our ancestors have been searching for methods to protect themselves from rain and humid environments. Crucial to our environmental adaptation and survival was to find cover and protection against enduring contact with wet and moist conditions. Consequently, the surge for transforming natural materials to water repellent and water impermeable materials was crucial for our survivability.
Examples are leathers and fabrics such as linen, flax and hemp, and wool and silk which were impregnated and coated with complex lacquer mixtures, waxy coatings, oils, natural rubbers, and from the 19th  century onwards, semi-synthetic substances like cellulose nitrate.

By this technology, a wide range of products could be made water resistant, and the field of application was extremely diverse. 

This research aims to investigate the historical materials and techniques to better understand both production processes and degradation phenomena. The goal is to (1) identify and understand historical technology and evolutions through time by reconstructing a corpus of relevant recipes, (2) characterize the physical properties of the reconstructed recipes (e.g., wettability/permeability, elasticity), (3) identify ageing phenomena and their impact on the physical properties of the reconstructed materials. (4) The acquired results are then evaluated by benchmarking with heritage objects from the KMKG-MRAH. And finally, (5) to identify the optimal conservation conditions.

The University of Antwerp received the European Commission’s HR Excellence in Research Award  for its HR policy. We are a sustainable, family-friendly organisation which invests in its employees’ growth. We encourage diversity  and attach great importance to an inclusive working environment and equal opportunities, regardless of gender identity, disability, race, ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation or age. We encourage people from diverse backgrounds and with diverse characteristics to apply.