The National Gallery, London — in collaboration with the Heritage Science Data Service (HSDS) and partner institutions across the UK.

About the Project

The Heritage Science Data Service (HSDS) is a national initiative to make the UK's heritage science and conservation research data findable, accessible, and reusable. The National Gallery is a core data-providing partner, contributing scientific datasets, semantic data infrastructure, and specialist expertise in conservation science to help shape the service.

Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) under the Research Infrastructure for Conservation and Heritage Science (RICHeS) programme, the HSDS is led by the Archaeology Data Service (ADS) in partnership with the STFC Hartree Centre and a consortium of heritage institutions across England, Scotland, and Wales. The National Gallery's work within HSDS spans data provision, semantic standards development, and the building of open digital research infrastructure that extends well beyond the Gallery's own collections.

The National Gallery's Contribution

The National Gallery's involvement centres on three areas of activity. First, the Gallery is contributing scientific datasets from its conservation research programme -- including technical imaging, paint sample analysis, and related documentation -- to the HSDS repository infrastructure. Second, the Gallery's heritage science team is actively involved in the development of semantic data standards and CIDOC CRM-based modelling pipelines that will underpin how heritage science data is described and made interoperable across institutions. Third, the Gallery is contributing to the development of ResearchSpace-based Virtual Research Environments, supporting researchers in accessing and working with complex, linked heritage science datasets.

• Contributing scientific datasets and conservation research records to the HSDS national data catalogue.
• Developing CIDOC CRM semantic models for heritage science data, including sampling, analysis, and documentation workflows.
• Building and testing ResearchSpace deployments as Virtual Research Environments for linked heritage science data.
• Supporting cross-institutional data standards and FAIR data practices within the UK heritage science community.
• Contributing to European-level connections, including E-RIHS and ECCCH, ensuring UK heritage science infrastructure is internationally aligned.

Why Heritage Science Data Matters

Heritage science generates data that is extraordinarily diverse -- from X-ray and infrared reflectography to GC-MS analysis of paint binders, from microscopic cross-sections to 3D surface models. Much of this data is irreplaceable: the samples are consumed in analysis, the objects change over time, and the conditions of examination are unique. Without structured, long-term preservation and open access, these scientific insights risk being siloed within individual institutions or lost entirely.

By contributing to the HSDS, the National Gallery aims to ensure that decades of scientific investigation into the materials and techniques of the paintings in its care are preserved, shared, and made useful to researchers well into the future.

HSDS Partners

The HSDS is an initiative led by the Archaeology Data Service (ADS) in partnership with the STFC Hartree Centre. The National Gallery is one of a consortium of core data-providing and advisory partners, which also includes:

• British Museum
• British Geological Survey
• Historic England
• Historic Environment Scotland
• The National Archives
• Natural History Museum
• Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales
• National Heritage Science Forum
• Manchester Metropolitan University
• Flax & Teal
• Kartography CIC

Visit the main HSDS website at hsds.ac.uk for information about the service, its data catalogue, repository, and Virtual Research Environments.

Find Out More

The National Gallery's HSDS-related work spans several connected areas. Further information on each is available via the links below -- these pages are being developed and will be updated as the work progresses.

This work is supported by UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council funding under the RICHeS programme (Heritage Science Data Service, grant ref. TBC). The National Gallery's HSDS activity is led by the Heritage Science team in partnership with colleagues across Conservation, Digital, and Research departments.