Distributed Infrastructure: Provision and use in practice

The National Heritage Science Forum's first hybrid event explored how the UK heritage science community can collaborate to provide and access distributed research infrastructure for heritage science.

Attendees gained an up-to-date picture of the proposed RICHeS programme as well as a range of practical insights from infrastructure coordinators, providers and users. There were frequent opportunities for engagement with speakers and other attendees through Q&A sessions and focused discussion groups. Where permission has been given, slides of the presentations are available below. A summary of the day, together with outcomes of the day's discussions is being prepared and will be available on this page. lts purpose is to support collaboration and operational planning in advance for major investment by UK Research and Innovation in enhanced research and innovation infrastructure. 

Click here for more background on the infrastructure project.

Download the programme here: Programme for Distributed Infrastructure: provision and use in practice (pdf)

Read a summary of the event here: Summary of Distributed Infrastructure: provision and use in practice (pdf)

Date and time: 25 January 2023, 10:00am – 4:00pm

Location: Institute of Physics, 37 Caledonian Rd, London N1 9BU or online via Zoom

Arrivals & Welcome (10:00am – 10:30am)

Professor Nigel Llewelyn, Chair of the NHSF, welcomed participants to the colloquium and faciliated agreement of aims for the day.

Keynotes (10:30am – 12:00pm)

• RICHeS (Research Infrastructure for Conservation and Heritage Science): How the AHRC is planning to invest in heritage science infrastructure (pdf) – Dr Joanna Dunster, Senior Investment Manager, Heritage and International Research Infrastructures, Arts & Humanities Research Council
• SYNTHESYS: an integrated European infrastructure for natural history collections (pdf) – Dr Kristina Gorman, Natural History Museum

Case Study Presentations (1:00pm – 2:30pm)

Short presentations given by speakers with experience in providing and accessing research infrastructure:

• Access: 'Banqueting House, Whitehall – Rubens ceiling paintings technical conservation research, MOLAB experience' (pdf) - Dr Constantina Vlachou, Historic Royal Palaces.
• Provision: 'Starting from scratch – creating a framework for heritage science research access at The National Archives' (pdf) - Dr Lora Angelova, The National Archives.
• Networks: 'Developing the Cambridge Heritage Science Hub (CHERISH)' - Professor Erma Hermens, Hamilton Kerr Institute and Fitzwilliam Museum.
• Digilab: 'Plans for the digital component of IPERION HS and ERIHS IP' - Marika Spring, The National Gallery.

Discussion Session (3:00pm – 4:00pm)

Online and in-person break-out groups addressed the question: What are the three priorities for inclusion in the new research and innovation infrastructure?

Attendees will be asked to reflect on the research infrastructure needs of themselves and of their organisation and consider what should be the priorities for the proposed RICHeS investment.

To help formulate their answers, participant groups were asked to consider these aspects of the issue:

• Networks: how should these be formed? How should networks spread the benefits of the investment?
• User needs: how should these be met?
• Information capture: how can we capture knowledge about the benefits that the investment will deliver?
• Digital systems: how can these be used to connect equipment, individuals and digital content?
• The NHSF: what role should the Forum play on behalf of the sector in promoting the new infrastructure and in supporting its work?

Further information:

Background

The importance of infrastructure* to heritage science is now recognised across the research and innovation ecosystem. Significant investments have already been made in EU-funded infrastructure (such as IPERION and E-RIHS) and more investment in UK infrastructure is planned by AHRC (subject to business case approval). As this new investment is being planned, what can we learn from history? Experience suggests that both providers and potential users of heritage science infrastructure face a range of practical issues, which present variously as opportunities and challenges. For example, heritage science infrastructure is currently unevenly distributed both geographically (including across the UK and internationally) and across multiple communities of practice (such as conservators and materials scientists).

* Research and innovation infrastructures are facilities, resources and services that are used by the research and innovation communities to conduct research and foster innovation in their fields. Find out more on the UKRI website.

Purpose of this event

The event was intended to bring together ideas and opinions across the Heritage Science sector and to allow the NHSF to listen to its members and stakeholders.

The outcomes from the day’s discussions will help enable collaboration and operational planning for an enhanced UK heritage science research and innovation infrastructure. Participants gained an up-to-date picture of the development of the proposed RICHeS (Research Infrastructure for Conservation and Heritage Science) programme as well as a range of practical insights from infrastructure coordinators, providers and users based on experience to date. There were frequent opportunities for discussion and engagement with speakers and other attendees, and a breakout session in the afternoon enabled participants to reflect on the plans for RICHeS, the benefits they anticipate and any issues that they feel should be addressed as they consider the infrastructure needs of the future. The Forum was particularly interested in participants’ views on the development of networks, methods of engaging potential users and impact methodologies necessary for a successful access programme.