Alternative Climate Controls for Historic Buildings
The goal of this project is to demonstrate the application of controlled ventilation and heating or dehumidification as viable climate control strategies for improving collection environments in historical buildings in hot and humid regions.

Antibody Research
This project uses the analytical technique of Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) to identify proteins in binding media, such as animal glue, egg, and milk, as well as polysaccharides in plant gums.

Architectural Paints Research
This lab based project seeks to improve understanding of the visual differences between surfaces painted with different types of paint materials, focusing specifically on comparing the appearance of historic architectural paints with replication paints.

Architectural Records, Inventories, and Information Systems for Conservation (ARIS09)
This advanced international course in architectural conservation, heritage recording, and information management is offered in partnership with ICCROM.

Asian Organic Colorants
This project aims to develop a strategy for the analysis of organic colorants used as textile dyes and organic pigments in Asia.

Built Heritage in Southeast Asia: Conservation Education and Training Initiative
This project is an assessment of the education and training needs pertaining to built heritage conservation in Southeast Asia, defined provisionally as the region bounded by the countries of the Mekong River: Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.

China Principles
The objective of the project is to develop and promote national guidelines for conservation and management of cultural heritage sites in China.

Conservation of América Tropical
The objective of the project is to complete the conservation of the David Alfaro Siqueiros mural and to construct a shelter, viewing platform, and an interpretive center that will place the mural in its historical and artistic context.

Conservation of Mosaics in Situ
The project addresses a number of important issues related to the conservation and management of ancient mosaic pavements in situ.

Conservation of Photographs and Photograph Collections for Countries of Central, Southern and Eastern Europe
The goal of the project is the development of the field of photograph conservation in Central, Southern and Eastern Europe.

Conservation of the St. Vitus Mosaic in Prague
The project developed and applied an appropriate system of protection for the 14th-century glass mosaic on St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague.

Desalination of Porous Building Materials
This project addresses the knowledge gap concerning poulticing of salts from carved stone and wall paintings and works to establish guidelines for conservators on the use of desalination systems for building materials.

Directors' Retreats for Conservation Education
The primary goal of this project is the enhancement of conservation education by providing senior-level educators opportunities for reflection, discussion and renewal.

Earthen Architecture Initiative
This initiative seeks to further the conservation of earthen architecture through international activities in the areas of training, research, planning and implementation, and advocacy.

Experts' Roundtable on Sustainable Climate Management Strategies
In April 2007, the GCI Science and Education departments organized the Experts' Roundtable on Sustainable Climate Management Strategies in Tenerife, Spain. The objectives of the roundtable were to exchange knowledge and experiences; to identify areas in need of further study or new research; and to identify opportunities for education and training in this subject. The proceedings from this roundtable are available online and include discussions papers submitted by the experts prior to the roundtable; an edited transcript of the roundtable discussion, and a bibliography that features the participants' published works on climate management.

Herculaneum Project
This collaborative project aims to provide scientific support through analytical investigations to address specific conservation problems affecting the archaeological site of Herculaneum.

Historic Cities and Urban Settlements Initiative
The long-term goals of this initiative are to contribute to the enhancement of practices in the field of conservation and management of historic cities and settlements and to address critical needs and issues through the implementation of targeted projects ranging from research and education to field work.

Injection Grouts for the Conservation of Architectural Surfaces: Research and Evaluation
The objective of the project is to evaluate working properties and performance characteristics of injection grouts for the conservation of architectural surfaces and to provide reliable tools for conservators and conservation scientists to assess and compare different grouts in the laboratory and field.

International Course on Stone Conservation (SC09)
This advanced international course in the conservation of stone—to be held in Venice, Italy, April-July 2009—is being coorganized by ICCROM, the University of Venice, UNESCO-Bresce, the Italian Ministry of Culture, and the GCI.

Iraq Cultural Heritage Conservation Initiative
This initiative aims to mitigate threats to and repair damage sustained by Iraq's cultural heritage, and to rebuild the country's professional conservation and heritage management capacity.

Lime Mortars and Plasters
The general aim of this research project is to enhance knowledge of the fundamental properties and performance of high-calcium lime mortars and plasters in order to provide a wider basis for the appropriate choice of materials and methods in the conservation of this widely used building material.

Los Angeles Historic Resource Survey Project
The goals of this project are to research the objectives, methods, funding, and incentives employed in a comprehensive citywide survey in Los Angeles and to work with city decision-makers and stakeholders to implement a survey program.

Magnesian Limestone Project
The goal of the project is to provide a scientific foundation for the development of conservation interventions for magnesian limestone.

Management Planning
This project seeks to analyze the GCI's experiences in conservation management planning, identify prevailing needs in the field of heritage management, and develop potential ways in which the GCI can address existing gaps in the field.

Maya Initiative
The initiative aims to reinforce and develop conservation practices through collaborative efforts in order to resolve common problems in the region.

Middle Eastern Geodatabase for Antiquities - Jordan (MEGA-J)
The objective of this project is to develop and implement a bilingual Arabic-English, Web-based national geographic information system (GIS) for Jordan's Department of Antiquities (DoA) to assist the department in inventorying, monitoring, and managing Jordan's vast number of archaeological sites.

Modern Paints
The project addresses questions regarding the character of modern paint materials through the development of analytical techniques for identifying modern paint media and the evaluation of cleaning methods and techniques for modern paintings. Part of the Modern and Contemporary Art Research Initiative.

MOSAIKON: A Regional Strategy for the Conservation of Mosaics in the Mediterranean
A partnership of the Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Foundation, ICCROM, and the International Committee for the Conservation of Mosaics, this project addresses the need for enhanced capacity in the conservation and management of archaeological mosaics in the Mediterranean region through strategic targeting of priorities and deployment of resources.

Museum Lighting Research
This project seeks to reduce the damage to works of art on paper caused by museum lighting through the reevaluation of current illumination guidelines and the testing and design of new lighting.

Organic Materials in Wall Paintings
The objective of the project is to improve the practice of wall paintings conservation by developing a methodology for identification of organic materials used as binders, which are particularly vulnerable during intervention.

Organization of World Heritage Cities World Symposia
This project, aimed at improving conservation and management of historic cities, involves a collaboration with the Organization of World Heritage Cities in the organizing of their World Symposiums.

Outdoor Painted Surfaces
The Outdoor Painted Surfaces project aims to improve conservators' understanding of paints used for twentieth- and twenty-first-century outdoor painted works of art and to establish procedures to improve their preservation. Part of the Modern and Contemporary Art Research Initiative.

Panel Paintings Initiative
This multi year project—a collaboration of the Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Foundation and the J. Paul Getty Museum—will address the need for educational resources and training opportunities in the structural treatment of panel paintings.

Preservation of Plastics
This long-term project aims to rapidly gather information on the properties of a wide range of plastics to understand why certain plastics are more unstable than others, and to establish protocols that help to slow down this process. Part of the Modern and Contemporary Art Research Initiative.

Preventive Conservation Case Study
The aim of this project is to develop didactic case studies that will illustrate the inter-related issues affecting the practice of preventive conservation and the decision-making process that contributes to a viable and sustainable conservation strategy.

Recording, Documentation, and Information Management (RecorDIM) Initiative
The objective of the project is to identify the critical gaps between those who provide the recording and documentation tools utilized in conservation and the conservation professionals who use them—and to work to bridge those gaps.

Research on the Conservation of Photographs
The goal of this project is to advance techniques for identifying important variations in photographic processes, thereby providing insight into postprocessing chemistry and chemical treatment of photographs.

Salt Research: Mechanisms of Salt Decay and Methods of Mitigation
The objective of this project is to improve scientific understanding of how stone deteriorates due to the action of water and salts, and to develop effective mitigation and conservation procedures.

Southern African Rock Art Project
This project seeks to strengthen rock art preservation, conservation, accessibility, and management in the Southern African region.

Teamwork for Integrated Emergency Management
The aim of this course is the increased capacity of museum professionals in integrated emergency management.

UCLA/Getty Master's Program on the Conservation of Ethnographic and Archaeological Materials
This program, which awards a master's degree in Archaeological and Ethnographic Conservation is a partnership of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA and the J. Paul Getty Trust.

Valley of the Queens
The project is a partnership with Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities to develop and implement a conservation and management plan for the Valley of the Queens on the west bank of the Nile.

Wall Paintings at Mogao Grottoes
The project objective is to design, implement, and disseminate a methodology for the conservation of wall paintings in Cave 85—following the Principles for the Conservation of Heritage Sites in China—that will be adaptable to other cave temples at the Mogao Grottoes and to other Silk Road sites.

Last updated: September 2009