Nearly £1 million has been awarded to Oxford University to strengthen its conservation and heritage science initiatives.

The Oxford Collaboration in Heritage Science Research and Engagement (OCHRE) project received the funding from the UK Research and Innovation Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The University is a leading player in AHRC’s £80 million investment project.

Aiming to foster collaboration between arts and sciences, OCHRE will involve the departments of Geography, Archaeology, Materials Science, Engineering, and Chemistry at the University – as well as institutions like the Bodleian Library and Ashmolean Museum. 

OCHRE is part of the national Research Infrastructure for Conservation and Heritage Science (RICHeS) programme, which aims to utilise improved technology to safeguard the UK’s cultural heritage. RICHeS seeks to improve access to heritage collections, stimulate the UK’s heritage economy, and drive innovation in material science.

Led by Professor Heather Viles of the School of Geography and the Environment, OCHRE will create a sustainable heritage science hub connecting eight laboratories that will be equipped with advanced tools. Viles told Cherwell that the hub would take the form of “a modest, hot-desking space” and “a series of events to showcase what [they] do.” 

Viles said she was excited about “addressing some big challenges for cultural heritage”. She also told Cherwell that she was “really keen to work with all types of heritage organisation, from the biggest and highest profile sites which attract global visitors such as Blenheim Palace” to “much less well-known local sites.”

New technologies enabled by the investment include scanning electron microscopes and enhanced digital and hyperspectral imaging technologies, which will increase the detail visible when artefacts are being studied. Higher-performance equipment for chemical and structural analysis and portable analysis tools will also be introduced, including handheld X-ray devices thought of as a “lab in your pocket”.

The UK had a heritage sector of £31 billion in 2019 according to Historic England, with Oxford itself providing £7.9 billion in research and knowledge exchange activities in 2018-2019.