Inter-departmental Postgraduate Programme “Protection, Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Monuments”

INTER-DEPARTMENTAL POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMME

“PROTECTION, CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION OF CULTURAL MONUMENTS”

Year founded: 1998

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Participating schools:
Architecture
Civil Engineering
Rural and Surveying Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Spatial Planning and Development

Administrative support:
School of Architecture

Chair: Professor Anastasios Tellios
Director: Associate Professor Maria Dousi

The Inter-departmental Postgraduate Programme in “Protection, Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Monuments” has two specialisations:
a. Protection, Conservation and Restoration of Architectural Monuments.
b. Protection, Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art and Mechanisms.

Each specialisation lasts three semesters and leads to a Master’s degree.

The first two semesters cover courses and exams. An internship follows at the end of the second semester. In the third semester, students attend lectures and seminars and write their master’s dissertation.

Courses
The programme of specialisation A is common to all its postgraduate students.
It consists of compulsory and elective courses.
Of the thirty-nine (39) courses offered, fifteen (15) are compulsory and twenty-five (25) are electives, from which students must choose enough to earn eighteen (18) of the ninety (90) credits required.

Specialisation B also has a common programme for all its students, whatever their background.
It consists of twenty-three (23) compulsory courses grouped in modules.
So: a) the choice of subject for the individual internship and
b) the choice of scientific area for the master’s dissertation allow each student, depending on their background, to specialise in the conservation of works of art in relation to their undergraduate degree.

Internship
After the end of the spring semester, students of both specialisations complete an internship in their field in Greece and abroad, at ephorates of antiquities, museum laboratories, excavations, institutes, etc. (e.g. the Acropolis, Akrotiri on Thera, Dion, Symi, the Theatre of Thasos, etc.)

Complementary activities, such as seminars, lectures and study trips in Greece and abroad, are organised as part of the programme.

The seminars in particular have become a nationally recognised institution. Since 1998 the Programme has organised 11 seminars with distinguished guest speakers in their fields, besides its own teaching staff. They have been attended by 1,404 people from related fields, as well as by a large number of undergraduate students.

There are cooperation agreements with institutions and organisations abroad.

• A cooperation protocol with TRAKYA UNIVERSITY from 2008 to 2015
• Cooperation with the Erythrai/Ildırı Summer School: Archaeological Landscapes: Preservation, Design, Use (PreDU), Izmir Institute of Technology, Turkey.
• In 2011, AUTh organised the research project “Investigation of restoration methods for the historic building of the Theological School of Halki” in cooperation with the Patriarchate of Constantinople, with 15 postgraduate students and 20 teaching staff of the Programme.
• Intensive school of Conservation science. Chemistry and Culture Euro Mediterranean Cooperation in Research and Education, Fez, Morocco.
• Cooperation with specialised laboratories abroad, depending on the students’ field of study, e.g. Tate Gallery, London

The Programme also cooperates with the following leading research institutions in Greece (teaching, dissertations, internships, employment):

• “ORMYLIA” Art Diagnosis Centre, Ormylia, Chalkidiki
• “DEMOKRITOS” National Centre for Scientific Research, Athens
• “FORTH” Foundation for Research and Technology, Heraklion, Crete
• “IOUSTINIANOS” Centre for Byzantine Culture, Nea Flogita, Chalkidiki
• “ATHENA” Research and Innovation Centre in Information, Communication and Knowledge Technologies

Applicants
The Programme admits engineering graduates and graduates of other schools or departments in Greece and of recognised equivalent institutions abroad. Holders of foreign degrees must submit recognition of their degree by DOATAP.

Applicants are assessed in two stages:

A. The first stage is a pre-selection. The assessment criteria and their weightings are:
overall grade of the first degree, relevance of the first degree to the Programme’s subject, research activity (participation in research projects, etc.) and training, relevant professional activity, publications and papers, a second degree, postgraduate studies, reference letters from people with academic, research or professional standing, and knowledge of foreign languages.

B. The second stage is an interview with the applicants who passed the first stage.

Assessment of the Programme

1. The Programme has been evaluated by an international committee of experts and rated “Excellent”.
2. Students assess the Programme every two years without fail, by completing special questionnaires.

Graduates

The Programme’s graduates form the scientific workforce that staffs the public and private sectors, and the pool of young scientists that society relies on to further develop specialised research in the service of culture.

The Programme keeps in touch with all its graduates after graduation, through
a) group emails about talks, lectures, conferences, etc.
b) its website and its Facebook page, so that it stays informed about the careers of those who earned its Master’s degree.

The figures give an encouraging picture, both of the demand for this Programme and of the career prospects it offers.

According to the data available so far, at least 123 graduates of all disciplines (specialisations A and B) have been hired through ASEP calls and NSRF programmes in organisations and public services related to their specialisation.

Since the Programme began, 1,855 applications have been submitted and 585 students admitted. So far, 462 students have graduated.

Over the same period, 14 doctoral theses have also been completed.