E-RIHS – European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science

The pan-European research infrastructure for Heritage Science, coordinated by Italy (CNR), whose European Hub is based in Florence.

The mission of E-RIHS is to provide integrated access to expertise, data, technologies and advanced services to research communities, enterprises, and institutions managing cultural and environmental heritage, operating in the fields of cultural and natural heritage sciences and technologies and within the Intelligent Specialisation Themes – Tourism, Cultural Heritage and Creativity Industries, integrating, through a standardised approach, the main European facilities that are world leaders in their fields of interest.

E-RHIS brings together the hard sciences and the humanities in a transdisciplinary perspective to address all issues and problems related to cultural, natural and archaeological heritage: from restoration to fruition, from conservation to enhancement, from monitoring to management, from protection requirements to those of the tourism market.

E-RIHS offers its trans-national access services through a distributed infrastructure based on four integrated platforms:

  • ARCHLAB: provides physical access to specialist knowledge, scientific information, services and collections of technical images, samples and reference materials, analytical data and conservation documentation, managed by Europe’s leading museums, libraries, archives, conservation and research centres;
  • DIGILAB: the e-infrastructure of E-RIHS providing access to advanced data, content, tools and digital services (computation/supercomputation, storage, data analysis, data modelling, etc.);
  • FIXLAB: large- and medium-scale laboratories and facilities – particle and synchrotron accelerators, neutron sources, etc. – specialising in diagnostics, preservation and metrology. – specialised in diagnostics, conservation and metrology of tangible cultural heritage;
  • MOLAB: laboratories and advanced mobile analytical instrumentation for non-invasive measurements on precious, fragile or immovable objects, archaeological sites and historical monuments.

Last updated: 13 October 2023