The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Science and Engineering in Arts Heritage & Archaeology () is pleased to announce that applications are currently open for the following interdisciplinary four-year scholarship:

'Strain modelling in historical tapestries'

This is an exciting scholarship focusing on the historical textile tapestry collections at Hampton Court Palace. Exposure of these culturally valuable objects to environmental risks results in structural deterioration potentially leading to the loss of affected areas. The project will seek to understand how humidity and temperature influence the stress and strain distribution in hanging historic textiles to inform their preservation. Real-time data acquired from innovative tri-axial strain sensors will be used to derive and calibrate analytical structural models to predict the strain variations in the historic tapestries s under fluctuating environmental conditions. The effect of conservation methods such as structural stitching will be evaluated.

(i) What is the relationship between the environmental changes in humidity and temperature and strain in historic tapestries?

(ii) What are the most appropriate analytical techniques to model this relationship?

(iii) Can model-based simulations inform the optimum environmental conditions for the
protection of historic tapestries?

(iv) How can the analytical model inform current tapestry conservation methods?

Application deadline: 7th July 2014
Interviews: 14th July 2014 (at UCL)

Full details can be found in the PDF document attached under 'Related Files' below.