Department of Scientific Research
Contact us
Email:
[email protected]
The Department of Scientific Research
The British Museum
Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DG
The Department of Scientific Research houses scientific equipment for research and investigation of the collection.
Our team of specialist scientists work collaboratively with colleagues across the Museum and with external partners to:
- Undertake research programmes that extend our understanding of the collection
- Communicate the results of our research to the widest possible audience
- Support the care of the collection
We work from an extensive suite of on-site laboratories and use a wide range of analytical technologies to understand the composition, construction and stability of objects and to uncover evidence of the lives of their makers and users. Our research is supported by an extensive reference collection of organic and inorganic material specimens and experimental products.
Staff
- Saltanat Amirova – Horsepower Metal Postdoctoral Researcher
- Alessandro Armigliato – Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow
- Caroline Cartwright – Scientist
- Julie Chang – Project Scientist: Asian Lacquer
- Brett Clark – Project Scientist: X-ray Imaging Access Manager
- Carl Heron – Head of Scientific Research
- Helen Hewitt – Project Scientist: Heritage Science Data Service
- Tabea Koch – Research Assistant: Molecular Analysis (animal mummies)
- Capucine Korenberg – Scientist
- Nicholas Kraus – Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow
- Raluca Lazarescu – Research Assistant: MOWAA project
- Emma Long – Research Assistant: X-ray Imaging (Lewis Chess Pieces)
- Andrew Meek – Scientist: Vitreous Materials and Records Manager
- Aude Mongiatti – Scientist: Archaeological and Modern Metals
- Dan O'Flynn – Scientist: Head of Multiscale X-ray Imaging Centre
- Francesco Palmas – Scientist: Organic Technician
- Laura Perucchetti – Scientist: Metals
- Estelle Praet - Research Assistant: Molecular Analysis
- Frederik Rademakers – Scientist: Inorganic Analysis and Metals
- Alejandro Serna – Research Assistant: MOWAA project
- Antony Simpson – Scientist
- Michela Spataro – Scientist: Ceramics and Stone
- Juliet Spedding – Research Assistant: Craft Interactions
- Rebecca Stacey – Scientist: Organic Chemistry and Infrastructure Development
- Diego Tamburini – Scientist: Polymeric and Modern Organic Materials
- Olga Zagorodnia – British Academy Researcher-at-Risk-Fellow
- Our research students are listed on the research students page.
Research
Research at the Museum drives the care, display and understanding of the collection. Our research creates new knowledge, often through collaboration and by using cutting edge technology. Research projects, studentships and other activities cover a wide variety of academic disciplines and can involve archaeological excavation, studies of museum collections, working with craftspeople, understanding our visitors, conservation and scientific investigations.
The Department of Scientific Research provides a wide range of facilities that enable analysis of materials at an atomic, molecular and cellular scale, and whole object investigation – see Scientific facilities below for more details. We perform experimental and analytical research across the vast array of materials found in the collection, including:
- Organic materials (textiles, feathers, bone, shell, wood, resin)
- Inorganic materials (metals, stones, ceramics, glass, minerals)
- Biological remains.
Our research unlocks evidence of how objects were made and used, and how they have changed over time. This is vital to inform conservation practice and evidence-led collection care. Our research also reveals wider perspectives on human behaviour and experience, addressing themes such as resource exploitation, recycling, human health, sensory experience and environmental change.
The department's research is communicated through exhibitions and gallery displays, blogs, videos and conferences, as well as in a range of publications including articles in international peer-reviewed journals and academic monographs.
Scientific facilities
Our scientific research facilities are housed in purpose-built laboratories at the Museum which allows us to work in close proximity to the collection. The technologies we support in our labs are listed below; these analytical techniques allow the study of a diverse range of materials present in the collection.
Microscopy
- Optical microscopy
- Digital microscopy
- Specialist microscopy: biological, petrographic, UV, metallurgical
- Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
- Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX)
Imaging
- 2D and 3D multi-band imaging
- X-radiography and computed tomography (CT)
Analytical
- Fibre optic reflectance spectroscopy (FORS)
- Fourier-Transform Infra-Red spectroscopy (FTIR)
- Raman spectroscopy
- Mass spectrometry:
- Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)
- Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)
- Pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
- X-ray fluorescence (XRF) including scanning-XRF, portable-XRF and X-ray diffraction (XRD)
Find out about some of these technologies in our conservation and scientific research glossary.
Apply for scientific study
The Museum makes collection material available for scientific examination and analysis by external researchers.
Find out how you can apply for scientific study of the collection for external scientific research.
History of scientific research on the collection
18th century
The British Museum has a long and distinguished association with science – the founding collection was bequeathed by scientist and naturalist Sir Hans Sloane in 1753. Sloane succeeded Sir Isaac Newton as President of the Royal Society in 1727.
About Hans Sloane1919–20
A Government enquiry – led by distinguished chemist Alexander Scott – was launched to investigate the 'condition of antiquities at the British Museum' after the collection was stored in humid underground Post Office tunnels during World War I. As a result of the enquiry, a small laboratory was set up to conserve Museum objects and to apply scientific methods to study the collection.
A century of history in the Museum lab
1924
Harold Plenderleith was appointed to work in the laboratory. Together, Scott and Plenderleith went on to lay the foundations of museum science and conservation in the UK.
About Scott and Plenderleith
1926
The Museum Research laboratory's first scientific article was published in the Journal of the Chemical Society – focusing on the analysis of an organic substance found in a cosmetic jar from the tomb of Tutankhamun. The study was a collaboration between Plenderleith and Alfred Chaston Chapman, an expert in the chemistry of brewing.
1947
The laboratory moved to Montague Place as the original building suffered bomb damage during World War II. The British Museum began to expand its scientific staff. In 1949, Plenderleith and others first discussed plans for a radiocarbon dating laboratory at the Museum. The first radiocarbon dates were published in 1959.
1962
New laboratories, at 39–40 Russell Square, were opened. They were built to accommodate the expanding Scientific Research department and include a large conservation laboratory and a radiocarbon dating laboratory.
1970s and 80s
The Museum's Research Laboratory expanded instrumental and imaging facilities, notably in the study of metals, ceramics, glass and stone. The laboratory developed a strong reputation for researching ancient manufacturing processes in many areas of the world.
2014 – now
