Departmental Scholarship - Sustainable artwork preservation

Applications are invited for a 3.5-year funded PhD studentship based in the Department of Engineering, King's College London led by Professor Barbara Shollock with Professor Aviva Burnstock, from the Conservation Department at The Courtauld. This 3.5-year funded exciting project, to begin in October 2023, aims to discover and characterise environmentally induced changes to paintings. The successful candidate must have (or expect to obtain) a 1st or 2:1 degree in, ideally with four years of study at university level. The successful candidate will have a strong interest in materials design and experimental work. You will be an enthusiastic and self-motivated person who meets the academic requirements for enrolment for the PhD degree at King's College London. You should hold or expect to obtain a First-Class Honours or a 2:1 degree at master's level (or equivalent) in materials science/engineering, chemistry, mechanical engineering, physics or a related science. You should have an enquiring and rigorous approach to research together with an independent initiative and desire to learn as well as good team-working, observational and communication skills. If you have an interest in paintings and developing testing and characterisation techniques alongside modelling and simulation methods to investigate the effect of environmental conditions on painting across the scales this would be ideal.

The student is expected to contribute to the delivery of teaching and assessment in the Department of Engineering. The studentship includes the Department's standard conference travel support, a computer, and consumables. This scholarship is only available to UK students or to EU students with settled status (students who do not meet this requirement will not be invited for interviews).