The study programme
of Conservation and Restoration prepares students for an academic conservator’s continually changing and expanding field of
activity.
The study programme objective is to enable students to independently carry out measures for examining,
conserving and restoring art and cultural goods in line with the appropriate standards of professional ethics. To achieve
this, the knowledge of current methods of prevention and preservation form the basis of the programme. At the same time, students
will receive guidance in the pursuit of scientific conservation research and interdisciplinary cooperation with other specialist
areas.
The study programme will convey the internationally recognised quality criteria for the development of long-term
and sustainable preservation strategies. The knowledge imparted will be based on conservation sciences, natural sciences and
the humanities. During the course of the programme both theoretical and practical contents are treated as equally important
and are set up to mesh with each other. Individual emphasis on certain topics will be enabled depending on the programme framework.
On top of that, international cooperation activities and projects will serve to expand professional skills.
Graduates
of the programme distinguish themselves by their responsible handling of art and cultural goods and a methodically structured
approach in their work. They are able to argue the strategies they have developed, as well as react flexibly to the highly
diverse requirements of their field of activity.
Study route
The diploma degree programme of Conservation
and Restoration is arranged in two study segments.
The first segment encompasses two semesters and represents an
introduction into general conservation-restoration practices, where the teaching covers all specialised areas of the programme.
From the very beginning of the programme, students handle original items in the workshops (Central Artistic Subject – ZKF
– Conservation-Restoration Practice) and encounter various conservation and restoration tasks. The theoretical courses of
the first segment convey basic knowledge from natural sciences, materials science and art history across the specialist areas.
The second study segment (in the chosen specialist area) continues as in-depth theoretical and practical knowledge
in conservation, materials, and humanities. Contents from preventative conservation as well as dealing with (historical) production
and processing techniques supplement the study programme. Students may undertake an exchange or internship semester in a domestic
or foreign institution during the second study segment. Also, students will be included in national and international research
and restoration projects.
The fifth and final year is dedicated to the diploma thesis in which students are tasked
to resolve a complex conservation-restoration issue in its entirety as independently as possible.
The balance
of theory and practice is a significant aspect of the study programme. In addition to the ongoing training in conservation-restoration
methods, current trends in conservation sciences are addressed and the appropriate knowledge imparted.
Qualifications
of the graduates
The conservator accepts responsibility for the inspection, conservation- restoration work of the cultural
good, as well as the documenting and carrying out of all procedures. The academic conservator must be able to recognise, analyse
and document complex restoration issues in their entirety and carry out interventions based on an up-to-date standard of knowledge.
Conservation will always require interdisciplinary collaboration.
Graduates may either work in museum contexts,
increasingly in the field of preventative conservation, or the preservation of historic buildings and monuments. Their position
is equal to academics of neighbouring disciplines and will involve interdisciplinary exchange. 
