Publish Date: 22.04.2021
Category: Researchers in focus , ERC & MSCA, Interdisciplinary research
Dr Floriana Coppola joins the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology of University of Ljubljana from University of Bologna where she investigated the degradation of historical and contemporary paper using destructive and non-destructive analytical techniques. She developed surveys based on NIR spectroscopic data and efficiently used them for conservation scenario modelling, however the question of model uncertainty remained and is currently the focus of her MSC project UNCERTIR.
For successful conservation, material properties of heritage objects need to be known to a level of accuracy that allows meaningful decisions and routine analytical monitoring of change. Non-destructive methods of characterisation of heritage materials are increasingly in demand, and spectroscopic techniques, especially IR-spectroscopy, in combination with chemometric data analysis represent the conventional approach for both identification and quantitative analysis. However, the data is often associated with significant uncertainty, leading to their limited acceptance among the users. Therefore, UNCERTIR focuses on the analyses of the causes of the uncertainty of IR spectroscopy-based quantitative methods, providing, for the first time, the users with a comprehensive evaluation of analytical uncertainty for heritage material characterisation. The project will be supported by Dr Jasna Malešič from the National and University Library of Slovenia and Dr Manfred Anders from ZFB GmbH, where Floriana will be spending periods of secondment.
Research Fellow
Dr Coppola received her PhD in Chemistry from the University of Bologna in 2019. Since her Master thesis (2014) in Environmental Assessment and Management, she has devoted her research activities to heritage science. Her PhD thesis investigated the degradation of both historical and contemporary papers through destructive and non-destructive analytical techniques, by comparing the degradation rates of recycled and non-recycled papers, by estimating the effects of γ-rays as a treatment for mass disinfection, and by carrying out a non-destructive innovative survey of a historical book collection. While such surveys already represent an efficient way of conservation scenario modelling, the question of model uncertainty remains and is currently the focus of the MSC project UNCERTIR.
Supervisor
Professor Dr Matija Strlič is Professor of Analytical Chemistry at University of Ljubljana and Professor of Heritage Science at University College London, and the lead of the Heritage Science Lab Ljubljana (HSLL). His main research interests are the development of heritage science infrastructure (E-RIHS and IPERION), including instrumentation and methodology, as well as modelling of heritage materials, environments, values and decision making. He also participates in the establishment of the Slovenian node of European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science (E-RIHS.si).