The Heritage Science Austria programme of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) supports interdisciplinary research projects dedicated to the study, preservation, and sustainable management of cultural heritage nationwide. Funded by the National Foundation for Research, Technology and Development (Fonds Zukunft Österreich), the programme promotes collaboration between universities, research institutes, museums, and heritage authorities across Austria.
The Austrian Accademy of Sciences announced the nine projects funded in the framework of the call Heritage Science Austria 2.0 launched in 2025. Across the funded projects, the nine Principal Investigators represents: the University of Innsbruck, the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (two projects), University of Vienna (two projects), the Austrian Archaeological Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (two projects), the Austrian National Library, and the Technical University of Vienna. When considering all project partners and co-investigators, the projects involve 15 different institutions in total, including universities, research institutes, museums, heritage authorities, and international organizations.
The nine projects funded in the 2024 call highlight the breadth of contemporary heritage science, combining humanities, natural sciences, engineering, and digital technologies. Their topics range from the material culture of the Nazi concentration camp system, to Renaissance manuscripts, underwater archaeology, historic iron architecture, and contemporary graffiti. Several projects also explore innovative digital approaches, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, sensor technologies, and advanced imaging methods, while others address urgent conservation challenges related to environmental change, material degradation, and the preservation of complex heritage collections.
More info here: https://www.oeaw.ac.at/en/funding/funding-programmes/heritage-science-austria
LIST OF THE FUNDED PROJECT
Heritage_2024-01_TAGS „Materialities of Annihilation and Resistance: Prisoner Tags from the Mauthausen Concentration Camp“
Principal Investigators: Barbara Hausmair, Ulrike Töchterle, Peter Tropper (University of Innsbruck), Yvonne Burger (Memorial Mauthausen), Florian Schwanninger (Hartheim Learning and Memorial Site)
Grant: 547,292.93
Abstract: “Hello, what’s your name?” – a banal question we are asked a thousand times during our lives, yet it touches on one of the very foundations of what makes us human: our name. Names are more than mere identifiers; they are deeply tied to our relationships, our identity – they are part of who we are. So, what if our name is violently taken from us? This is exactly what millions of people experienced in the Nazi concentration camps between 1933 and 1945. The Schutzstaffel (SS) replaced names with numbers – a cruel practice designed to systematically strip the victims of their humanity. Survivors remember the numbers primarily as symbols of humiliation and suffering. Yet, the archaeological artefacts that are at the core of our project suggest that prisoners re-claimed their humanity by re-appropriating that very number: prisoner tags. In the Mauthausen concentration camp, prisoner numbers were not only sewn onto the prisoners’ clothes, but also issued on metal tags worn as bracelets or necklaces. There are no known SS records explaining the exact purpose of these tags. The Mauthausen and Hartheim Memorials retain a collection of 262 such items, recovered from mass graves during post-war exhumations and later during archaeological excavations. Interestingly, this ensemble includes not only official tags issued by the SS, but also tags crafted by prisoners, some of them adorned in a highly skilled and artistic manner and decorated with initials, dates or place names. By mobilising the interdisciplinary strengths of heritage sciences our research explores the tags’ ambivalent materiality. We are particularly interested in their role in camp administration and processes of annihilation, as well as how prisoners reinterpreted these objects of violence to resist dehumanization. We are also investigating whether the tags became objects of remembrance after 1945 and what significance they hold for survivors and their families today. With innovative approaches in metal traceology, we are studying both the production of official tags and the manufacturing techniques of prisoner-made ones. Using state-of the art metallurgical analyses, we explore the chemical composition of the tags to determine source materials and understand how they circulated in the larger KZ system, but also to find out where prisoners could get hold of materials for making their own tags. By combining archaeology, archival research, and oral history, we are examining the functions and meanings of tags for various historical actors, as well as for survivors and their families today. Our aims are to create new insights into the lives of people murdered by the Nazis, to produce fundamental guidelines for handling metal artefacts from 20th-century archaeological contexts, and to develop a joint education program of the involved memorials. In doing so, we aim to contribute to the long-term preservation and appreciation of this unique material heritage.
Heritage_2024-04_FunMuseSens „Fungi in museums and collections: a novel, highly sensitive, AI powered sensor system for the early stage detection of fungal contaminations“
Principal Investigators: Katja Sterflinger (Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna), Elke Kellner (International Council of Museums -ICOM), Jürgen Zanghellini (University of Vienna)
Grant: 549,536.29 €
Abstract: Fungal infestation is one of the greatest dangers for art and cultural artefacts in museums, collections and archives. Fungi damage materials by decomposition, corrosion and aesthetical changes and they are posing a health risk for museum staff and visitors. Fungal infestation is predicted to increase significantly in regions above 50° latitude in the coming decades due to more rainfall and higher temperatures as a consequence of climate change. The situation is made worse by the urgent requirement for museums to become more climate-efficient and to use less energy for air conditioning. Based on this, the timely detection of fungal infestation is an increasingly important issue. There is a need for a simple, reliable, highly sensitive method for the early detection of mould growth in museums, collections and depots. Therefore, we suggest to develop a novel metal oxide semiconductor based sensor system with ‘artificial intelligence’ to detect the smell (volatile organic compounds) that mould produce during growth. This technology could enable a ‘real-time’ determination of volatile mould emissions as marker for fungal growth with some conclusions on the type of mould and even the type of material infested. In this project it is planned to adapt and optimize an easy-to-install and low-cost system with high sensitivity for use in museums and collections. The research will be done in collaboration with partner museums in Austria with the aim to make the system available for all interested heritage collections.
Heritage_2024-09_ACH „Digital Scientific Documentation, Monitoring, and Community Engagement for the Sustainable Management of Austria’s Underwater Heritage“
Principal Investigators: Immo Trinks (University of Vienna), Cyril Dworsky (Kuratorium Pfahlbauten), Karina Grömer (Natural History Museum, Vienna)
Grant: 549,948.01 €
Abstract: AquaCulturalHeritage is a groundbreaking project dedicated to the digital documentation, monitoring, and sustainable management of Austria’s rich but vulnerable underwater cultural heritage. Focusing on sites in lakes and rivers—including the UNESCO World Heritage “Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps”—the project brings together science, technology, and citizen engagement to preserve the hidden past beneath Austria’s waters.
Austria’s lakes hold thousands of years of cultural history, yet many underwater archaeological sites remain underdocumented and under threat. A major challenge is the rapid spread of invasive species such as the Quagga mussel, which colonises archaeological wood and structures, making them difficult or impossible to identify and document. This project combines cutting-edge technologies like 3D photogrammetry, sonar, and environmental monitoring with an innovative citizen science programme to address this urgent issue.
Certified sport divers will play a key role: trained as citizen scientists, they will help identify underwater archaeological sites and report signs of colonisation by invasive species relevant to heritage conservation. For this purpose, the existing IceWatcher App—developed with support from the Austrian Federal Monuments Office (BDA)—will be adapted for underwater use, ensuring long-term sustainability and broad accessibility. Their observations, combined with expert fieldwork, will feed into a new national geospatial database for submerged heritage.
The project is coordinated by the Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science (University of Vienna) in partnership with the Kuratorium Pfahlbauten and the BDA. Two fully funded PhD students will lead research on underwater documentation techniques and citizen engagement strategies. In collaboration with conservation scientists from the Akademie der Bildenden Künste and limnologists from the University of Innsbruck, the project will explore the biological and conservation-related impacts of invasive species on heritage sites.
Workshops, exhibitions, and open-access publications will ensure that findings are shared widely with researchers, policymakers, and the public. Through joint efforts, the project will not only safeguard Austria’s submerged heritage but also set a model for participatory conservation and digital heritage science across Europe.
Heritage_2024-11_INDIGO2.0 „INventory and DIsseminate Graffiti along the dOnaukanal 2.0“
Principal Investigators: Geert Verhoeven (University of Vienna), Norbert Pfeifer (Technical University of Vienna)
Grant: 549,778.90 €
Abstract: Graffiti are often dismissed as vandalism or visual noise, yet many examples represent powerful albeit ephemeral forms of social, political, and cultural expression. Project INDIGO (IN-ventory and DI-sseminate G-raffiti along the d-O-naukanal) was launched in 2021 to document, archive, disseminate, and analyse Vienna’s central graffiti-scape. For two years, INDIGO established theoretical and methodological foundations for researching contemporary graffiti along the Donaukanal. The project also exposed key challenges, which led to the conception of INDIGO 2.0.
This follow-up project addresses the need for sustainable, technology-supported frameworks to advance the digital conservation, access, and interpretation of contemporary graffiti-scapes. INDIGO 2.0 responds to four hurdles identified in INDIGO 1.0: the difficulty of efficiently detecting new graffiti, metadata annotation bottlenecks, challenges in accurately modelling spatio-temporal relationships, and the inadequacy of relational databases for handling complex heritage data. INDIGO 2.0 introduces a techno-humanistic approach to tackle these issues at scale. The project’s central research question—how to sustainably monitor and understand evolving graffiti-scapes—guides a three-year program of interdisciplinary development and implementation.
Five core areas of inquiry provide a framework for the project. First, a bike-mounted multi-camera system paired with graffiti change detection in the AUTOGRAF software will track new graffiti and document them via orthophotos and 3D models. Second, metadata annotation pipelines will be transformed through machine learning and voice-to-text transcription, enabling region-specific, voice-driven tagging via the GRAPHIS software. Third, the temporal dynamics of graffiti will be modelled using a dedicated time-aware ontology embedded in a graph database that manages INDIGO 2.0’s diverse (meta)data and supports new ways to analyse and visualise complex relationships. Fourth, the HUEnique software will consistently determine graffiti colours, assign standardised names, and link them via COOLPI, a colourimetric tool, to spectral reflectance profiles. Finally, online surveys and exploratory tools embedded in the UrbanChameleon platform will provide insights into the evolution, visibility, and covering of socio-political graffiti.
By uniting Digital Humanities and Technical Sciences, INDIGO 2.0 reshapes graffiti research and offers transferable innovations to Heritage Science through tools and insights applicable to rock art, painting studies, and the digital preservation of cultural heritage. The project also aims to establish much-needed terminological standards and style formalisations for graffiti studies, supporting future cross-project data interoperability. In doing so, INDIGO 2.0 recasts graffiti as a rich, dynamic, and interpretable record of contemporary urban culture, far beyond mere visual noise.
Heritage_2024-12_LEGION „machine LEarninG-enabled Identification of archaeological Objects in the middle daNube river basin“
Principal Investigators: Dominik Hagmann, Silvia Radbauer (Austrian Archaeological Institute, ÖAW), Sebastian Zambanini, Martin Kampel, Irene Ballester Campos (Technical University of Vienna)
Grant: 243,464.62 €
Abstract: The project LEGION (machine LEarninG-enabled Identification of archaeological Objects in the middle daNube river basin) is developing an innovative AI-based method for the automated classification and analysis of Roman common ware pottery from the UNESCO World Heritage site Carnuntum. The aim is to enable faster and more sustainable analysis of archaeological finds—offering new perspectives on Roman provincial history and material culture.
LEGION builds on a unique dataset of approximately 70,000 2D profile drawings of pottery vessels, collected over several decades of archaeological fieldwork. These are enriched with detailed archaeological attributes (form, manufacturing, decoration, chronology, fragment type) and new as well as existing petrographic analyses based on thin-section studies. The project integrates cutting-+ In addition to classification, LEGION offers new insights into settlement dynamics: the distribution of pottery types will allow the reconstruction of phases of growth, crisis, and decline in Carnuntum’s urban history. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the typochronology will also support the analysis of socio-economic and demographic processes. The resulting data will enable new understandings of trade networks, production centers, and cultural identities within the Roman province.
All data, ML models, and tools will be made openly and sustainably available in line with FAIR and CARE principles and integrated into European research infrastructures, including E-RIHS. LEGION thus enhances Austria’s visibility and expertise in international Heritage Science and provides a reusable digital infrastructure applicable to other regions and periods (e.g. the Middle Ages).
In close collaboration between the Austrian Archaeological Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), the Computer Vision Lab at TU Wien, the Lower Austrian State Collections, the ACDH-CH, and further partners, LEGION is developing a cutting-edge tool for academic research, heritage management, and cultural heritage. Supported by an active science communication strategy (including social media, exhibitions at Römerstadt Carnuntum, and online articles), LEGION also promotes digital literacy, AI literacy, and greater awareness of AI applications in Heritage Science.
Heritage_2024-14_IronArch „Iron architecture in the Austrian monarchy. History of construction, material-related developments and theoretical discourse“
Principal Investigators: Gudrun Styhler-Aydın (Austrian Archaeological Institute, ÖAW), Daniel Kiener (Technical University of Leoben), Petra Weiss (Federal Monuments Office), Dörte Kuhlmann (Technical University of Vienna),
Grant: 549.903,20 €
Abstract: Industrial iron/steel production developed rapidly in the 19th century and, with new technologies and products, also had a lasting impact on the history of architecture and construction in Austria. We encounter bold, sometimes wide‐span iron structures from this period in many places, especially in everyday urban life: bridges, viaducts, hall buildings, but also domes, glass roofs and greenhouses are before our very eyes and present the technical culture of their time as architectural monuments. Even more extensive are the hidden iron constructions as supporting structures of many buildings of historicism. Scientific research of mass production using iron as a construction material in the Austrian monarchy is rare and has so far been mainly based on economic history, industrial archaeology and architectural history. Less scientific attention has been paid to the surviving structures themselves, their underlying design, advanced calculation methods, improved material qualities, manufacturing processes and construction procedures. The desideratum becomes even more obvious in the light of urgent questions concerning the preservation of those monuments, which are still in use. Increased safety requirements, additional payloads and the effects of climate change make efficient investigation methods and reliable data collection indispensable. Here, the project IronArch comes in. In an exemplary, yet detailed interdisciplinary analysis with specialized partners from the humanities, natural sciences and technology, the iron structures of the Austrian monarchy are being analysed with the aim of a sustainable recording and evaluation. For the first time, questions of building research, the humanities, the preservation of monuments and material sciences will be dealt with in a coherent manner by analysing selected iron structures with regard to material and construction, but also with regard to their historical significance. This approach opens up new research perspectives with the aim of a coherent analysis and presentation of the industrial and construction activities in iron building construction in the 19th century Austrian monarchy on the basis of a wide range of recorded object data and historical source material. The establishment of an open access database for the metallurgical, chemical, mechanical and structural parameters of historical iron and steel structures enables the use of project results in the future and is planned to be expanded. The equally necessary basic and application-oriented research expands the basis of conservation strategies for such monuments and makes a valuable contribution to the European state of research in this field, including important impulses for communication and future networking in the E-RIHS community.
Heritage_2024-24_AMA „A Mimeo Archaeology. Developing a method to classify mimeographed documents and re-evaluate their historical and social significance.“
Principal Investigators: Julien Segarra (Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna), Raphael Pickl (Austrian Institute of Technology – AIT)
Grant: 406.739,40 €
Abstract: AMA addresses a critical gap in the preservation and study of mimeography, a stencil-based duplication technology widely used throughout the 20th century in educational, bureaucratic, artistic, and activist contexts. While mimeography played a pivotal role in shaping informal print cultures and low-cost publishing, its technical processes and material outputs remain largely understudied in Austria. As a result, mimeographed documents are often misclassified, overlooked, or physically deteriorating in archives and libraries.
Combining expertise from media studies, heritage science, machine learning, and artistic research, the project aims to fill this gap by developing new methods for the identification, analysis, and preservation of mimeographed materials across Austrian collections. Its interdisciplinary, media-centred framework addresses both technical and conceptual challenges, treating mimeography not merely as a reproduction tool but as a historically and materially embedded medium of communication.
At the core of the project is the development of the MAID Tool (Mimeo Archive IDentification), a machine learning model designed to recognize mimeographed documents based on their distinct visual characteristics. This computational approach represents an innovative departure from conventional archival practices, which often rely on metadata or textual analysis. Instead, the MAID Tool uses visual and material cues to support the accurate classification and visibility of mimeographic documents in archival collections.
In parallel, the project adopts re-enactment as a practice-based research method to surface forms of tacit knowledge embedded in historical duplication processes. Drawing on frameworks from artistic research, the re-enactment involves hands-on experimentation with original mimeograph machines, stencils, and inks, capturing sensory, procedural, and embodied dimensions of media use that are traditionally absent from archival records. These insights will inform the compilation of preservation guidelines adapted to the specific vulnerabilities of mimeographic materials.
All findings will be made publicly accessible via MAPP (Mimeo Archaeology Project Platform), an open-access digital platform integrating the MAID Tool, historical context, preservation guidelines, and documentation of the re-enactment. Designed for archivists, scholars, and artists, MAPP will offer a searchable environment to explore mimeography as a technical, cultural, and historical phenomenon.
Through scholarly publications, public workshops, and a final symposium, the project fosters interdisciplinary dialogue and contributes to broader debates about how low-tech and marginalised media can be preserved within heritage science. It ultimately proposes a model for how media archaeology and computational methods can jointly inform archival futures—offering not only technical solutions but also critical reflections on what, and how, we choose to remember.
Heritage_2024-28_SaC „Splendor and Commerce – Exploring Humanist Italian Renaissance Book Production Through Art History and Material Analysis“
Principal Investigators: Katharina Kaska (Austrian National Library), Maria Theisen (Institute for Medieval Research, ÖAW), Wilfried Vetter Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna), Robert Sablatnig (Technical University of Vienna), Christa Hofmann (Austrian National Library)
Grant: 549.826,00 €
Abstract: Few epochs in European history are as closely associated with book culture as the Age of Humanism, during which the rediscovery of classical authors played a central role. To better understand the impact on Vienna’s intellectual life, this project focuses on two significant humanist collections from the 16th century in Vienna: the collection of Bishop Johannes Fabri, who was closely connected with Erasmus, and the library of court physician and historian Johannes Sambucus. Both scholars amassed extensive collections that were praised by their contemporaries for their classical and humanist codices, many of which were beautifully illuminated Italian texts from centers such as Florence, Rome, and Naples, as well as from the famous Biblioteca Corviniana of King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary.
The aim of the project is to analyze these illuminations by art historical comparison in conjunction with an analysis of the painting materials. Since not all pigments and dyes were equally available across Europe in the 15th century and artists studied and worked in various cities, this approach helps to better understand origins, production, and trade networks of these manuscripts. This project therefore concentrates on three key points:
• Which colorants were commonly used in Italian Renaissance book production?
• Can the use of certain colorants be linked to specific regions?
• Can certain workshops or artists be identified based on their choice of colorants?
New AI supported software for data evaluation in material analysis allows to create a large reference database for the pigments and dyes used in this vital phase of book production.
The results of this project will shed light on the practices of workshops in the early modern period and illuminate the spread of Renaissance book art across Europe, right into the Viennese scholarly world. It will not only challenge the stereotypical image of the “Italian Renaissance” versus the “Gothic North,” but also lay the groundwork for future conservation efforts to preserve these valuable manuscripts as testimonies of our cultural heritage.
Heritage_2024-33_METENCO „Historical Metalworking Techniques and Environmental Influences on the Corrosion and Preservation of Copper and its Alloys“
Principal Investigators: Valentina Ljubić Tobisch (Technical University of Vienna), Wolfgang Kautek (University of Vienna), Klaudia Hradil (Technical University of Vienna), Astrid Huber-Reich (Federal Monuments Office)
Grant: 550.000,00 €
Abstract: Few materials have shaped our architectural and cultural history as profoundly as copper. Whether adorning the roofs of iconic churches, embellishing artworks, or serving utilitarian purposes, copper has long been valued for its durability, versatility, and aesthetic character. However, these very qualities are increasingly under threat: environmental changes, modern manufacturing processes and modified alloys, as well as the loss of traditional craftsmanship, are affecting how historic copper objects age and how they can be preserved.
The research project METENCO (METalworking, ENvironment and COpper) addresses this urgent challenge. It explores how traditional metalworking techniques, such as hammering, annealing, polishing, or artificial patination affect the corrosion behaviour and long-term surface evolution of copper and its alloys. The project compares original historical copper sheets, removed from buildings during restoration works, with experimental reference samples produced using historical methods. These samples are then subjected to controlled environmental exposure to simulate aging and patina formation.
The goal is to better understand the interaction between microstructure, atmospheric conditions, and handcrafting techniques, and to translate these insights into practical conservation strategies. In today’s cleaner urban air, new copper surfaces often remain dark instead of developing the characteristic green patina seen on historic rooftops. Such a change must be seen not only as a scientific problem, but also as a cultural and aesthetic one.
Combining advanced analytical tools such as mobile X-ray diagnostics, electron microscopy, and surface-sensitive analytical techniques with historical expertise and traditional craft, METENCO creates a foundation for sustainable cleaning and conservation approaches. These approaches aim to preserve both the physical material and the visual continuity of copper-based heritage.
By bringing together scientists, conservators, craftspeople, and heritage professionals, METENCO contributes to the protection of European cultural heritage in the face of environmental and societal change. Its findings will be shared through open-access publications, exhibitions, training programs, and professional guidelines, ensuring broad accessibility and long-term impact across disciplines and institutions.
