MNEMOSYNE

Cultural Heritage is a strategic resource for Europe with high cultural, social, environmental and economic value. The era of Digital Cultural Heritage (DCH) is now well underway and the European research resource for DCH has grown significantly in recent years. But the visible contribution of the Widening countries to this effort remains relatively weak. The Digital Heritage Research Laboratory (DHRLab) at Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) has been an exception in this respect, becoming a beacon in the Eastern Mediterranean and for Europe in general, in particular through its leadership of key initiatives in DCH research training and in policy co-ordination and support. While the Cypriot economy gradually recovers, in order to maintain and expand its leading role in DCH research, DHRLab needs further investment. The call for ERA Chairs is an ideal opportunity to ensure this by means of a well-designed and iterative process of strengthening its research capacity and restructuring of its role. Mnemosyne will proceed from the appointment of an outstanding researcher and research manager as ERA Chair holder in 2018 who will attract, direct and maintain high quality human resources and negotiate and implement the necessary structural changes to achieve excellence on a sustainable basis. The project will be carried out over a period of 5 years. Following recruitment of the ERA Chair Research Team, a three-phase research programme centred on holistic documentation of the DCH life cycle in support of existing and potential user needs will be carried out and extensively evaluated, with strong attention paid to exploitation. Communication activities, will be strategically planned and refined from the outset of the work and will last throughout the project duration.