27.09.2024
Rathgen-Forschungslabor
Stefan Simon, director of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin’s Rathgen-Forschungslabor (Rathgen Research Laboratory), has been appointed a Distinguished Research Chair by the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Over the course of the 2024–2025 academic year, Simon will work on his research project “Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Management of Change” at Carleton University in the Canadian city of Ottawa.
Stefan Simon has been the director of the Rathgen-Forschungslabor since 2005. Inspired by the ongoing discourse on climate crisis and the concept of the “green museum”, the chemist and conservation scientist specialises in the development of sustainable conservation strategies. In his own words:
Cultural heritage provides us with a fundamental source of evidence of human existence and identity. However, ensuring sustainable conservation of this heritage as we move through the 21st century will mean encompassing more than just the artefacts and their places of origin; it must also include the people who are involved in the heritage – those who own, research, use and preserve it.
As the Fulbright Canada Distinguished Chair in Arts and Social Sciences in Canada and North America, Simon will continue his research on these topics at Carleton University. Carleton University enjoys a strong profile in the fields of heritage conservation, environmental and climate science, and indigenous and postcolonial studies in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Science, making it an ideal location for Simon to carry out his research.
Ottawa is also home to the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) and seven of Canada’s nine national museums. The CCI is a pioneering force in researching and developing integral elements of holistic risk management and community-based approaches to conservation. Since 1972, it has served as a benchmark for many heritage institutes, including the Rathgen-Forschungslabor.