Presentation

Educational aims

The single cycle degree course in Cultural Heritage Conservation and Restoration is held in collaboration with the Regional Department for Cultural Heritage and Identity of Sicily, through the Regional Centre for Design and Restoration. It is designed to train graduates, providing them with a professional profile corresponding to the qualification of Restorer of Cultural Heritage, in accordance to the art. 29 of Legislative Decree 42/ 04 and subsequent amendments, in all six ministerial specialisations. The educational objective is, therefore, to train graduates able to work with operational and decision-making autonomy to identify the state of conservation of artefacts, to implement preventive, maintenance and restoration measures, limiting the degradation process of the constituent materials and ensuring their preservation contextualizing the artistic and cultural value of the works. The educational programme is based on humanistic, scientific and technical subjects and involves the study of artistic techniques in their historical context, of the materials and methods for their knowledge and conservation, and of the control and prevention of the degradation processes. The following criteria underlie the educational programme: - to give, to the necessary scientific and historical-artistic subjects, an appropriate number of credits; - to provide enough time for practical restoration activities, through workshops and practical training in educational yards; - To limit the number of integrated examinations to the extent permitted by the strong interdisciplinary nature of the degree program, methodological and cultural consistency is provided to the integrated courses.

work perspectives

Profile: Restorer Functions: Formulation of technical opinions on the restoration of cultural heritage, planning of direct and indirect actions to be adopted to limit the degradation processes of the assets and to ensure their conservation Skills: - advanced scientific and historical-artistic knowledge. - in-depth knowledge of the complex structure of the cultural asset subject to the constraints and protections of the competent bodies. - advanced knowledge of the characteristics, properties and degradation of the materials that constitute the cultural asset. - knowledge of Cultural Heritage legislation. Career opportunities: Universities and public and private research bodies, institutions of the Ministry of Artistic and Cultural Heritage responsible for the protection of cultural heritage (superintendencies, museums, libraries, archives, etc.), restoration laboratories, companies and professional organizations operating in the sector of diagnostics, conservation and restoration of cultural heritage. Profile: Researcher at research bodies and institutes Functions: conducting original research aimed at the recovery, conservation and restoration of cultural heritage. Skills: - knowledge of the scientific method. - ability to organize the interactions of different disciplinary knowledge to address the complex scientific problems relating to the preventive conservation of cultural heritage - advanced skills in the field of conservation techniques. Career opportunities: research at universities and public and private research institutions, through participation in specific PhD courses

Characteristics of the final exam

By passing the final examination, the 2nd cycle degree in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage is awarded. Therefore, the final examination consists of two parts: the first one is a practical laboratory test, while the second, theoretical-methodological part consists of the discussion of a written paper related to a conservation plan prepared during the practice period and developed independently. Candidates who do not pass the first part of the final examination, might repeat it during the following session. The final examination is public and it is evaluated by a special Board consisting of seven members appointed by the Rector, two members appointed by the Ministry of Culture and two members appointed by the Ministry of University.