Centre for the Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage, Faculty of Fine Arts, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń

The concept of conservation of cultural heritage as an interdisciplinary field, utilizing research methods from the humanities as well as natural and technical sciences, has a tradition of over 70 years at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Nicolaus Copernicus University (NCU) in Toruń. This tradition led to the establishment of the NCU Centre for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage. The Centre was opened in 2023 and consists of five laboratories and two studios.

As part of the project, a new building was constructed, and approximately 115 instruments were purchased.

Our Activities

We conduct research on various types of artworks, including:

• Sculptures made of natural and artificial stone, as well as wood,
• Metal and archaeological artifacts, and artistic craftsmanship,
• Easel paintings and wall paintings,
• Manuscripts, books, textiles, and photographs,
• Modern and contemporary artworks,
• Architectural structures and buildings of brick, stone and wood.

We specialize in:

• Comprehensive conservation and restoration of the aforementioned monuments and artworks, including the preparation of conservation documentation,
• Developing conservation projects,
• Studying the properties of conservation materials and developing new methods for preserving artworks.

Our center focuses on advancing analytical techniques such as:

• Dendrochronological analysis of wood (dating),
• Radar techniques for analyzing internal structures in architecture,
• Portable and scanning XRF spectroscopy,
• Optical coherence tomography for examining structure of artworks,
• Multispectral imaging,
• Infrared absorption spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR),
• Thermogravimetric analysis,
• Microbiological research.