HERCULES (HERança CULtural, Estudos e Salvaguarda) Laboratory was established in 2009 in Évora University with the financial support from the EEA Grants mechanism. Since its creation, the HERCULES Laboratory has endeavoured interdisciplinary collaboration with national and international partners bringing together the broad academic expertise of the institutions to explore new areas in analysis, po
licy and programs in the field of cultural heritage conservation and research. During the last years, the HERCULES laboratory become an important service provider to heritage stakeholders, which include SME’s of conservation-restoration and archaeology, and national and regional authorities, becoming a major reference in the scientific studies of cultural heritage. Promoting cultural heritage studies has been an important aspect of the HERCULES laboratory activities since its beginning. These have included the cooperation with local high schools for the inclusion on the curricula of science and cultural heritage topics, the production of a TV documental series, production of workshops for the general public and the joint edition of the e-conservation journal. Nowadays, the laboratory researchers are engaged in the material and historical study of different cultural heritage artefacts, namely, archaeological artefacts (ceramics, glass, metals, organic materials), art objects (easel paintings and polychrome sculpture, metals, historical textiles, ancient manuscripts), and built heritage (mortars, stone, mur al paintings and glazed tiles). The study of the biodegradation processes of the materials used to produce artistic artefacts led to the development of novel biotechnology based products used for identification of biocontaminants and for materials conservation.
