The program offers a three-year interdisciplinary curriculum leading to a degree of Master of Science in Art Conservation. The program was established in the spring of 1974 as a cooperative effort between Winterthur and the University. The program is designed to educate and train conservation professionals who can carry out the examination, stabilization and treatment of art and artifacts, are versed in general principles of collection care, and have a broad academic background in science and the humanities to assure enlightened decision making. The following subjects are to be studied: materials science, history of art, archaeology, and art and artifact technology, craft skills, cultural context, preventive maintenance, treatment techniques and conservation history, ethics and philosophy. Major conservation specialty areas include: textiles, wood, paper, photographs, library materials, paintings, natural science collections, and anthropological, historical, decorative and art objects of all materials. 

Only applicants who are accepted as Fellows in Conservation are admitted to the program. Positions will be awarded to college graduates who have completed coursework in art history, archaeology, studio art and chemistry, and the minimum of 400 hours of pre-program experience in conservation, and who can demonstrate academic and independent work in manual and studio skills. Specific course requirements are available from the department office. The fellowships are awarded annually. A full grant covers tuition for each semester and carries an annual stipend of $6,000 for the first year, $7,000 for the second year, and $8,000 for the third year. Applications to the program must be filed by February 1. Graduate Record Examination scores of above 1050 (verbal and quantitative scores) are required of all applicants. Admission is selective and competitive based on the number of well qualified applicants and the limits of available faculty and facilities. Those who meet stated minimum academic requirements are not guaranteed admission. Prospective applicants must contact the Art Conservation department for application materials. 

Courses carrying an ARTC designation are generally open only to art conservation graduate students. (Permission of instructor is required for other students.) There is no thesis or language requirement in the program. A research paper is done in the second year. Comprehensive examinations are given at the end of the first and second years, and a portfolio of third-year work and a final oral presentation are required before graduation. Two 8-week summer work projects are part of the required curriculum. 

Students are permitted one 3-credit elective per semester for the first two years of study (a total of 12 elective credits within the 68 credits required for graduation). Elective course work should focus on the following topics: 

1. history of the technology of cultural property; 
2. connoisseurship and provenance studies;
3. reconstruction studies in studio arts and crafts; and 
4. museum studies.  

Note:  The Ph.D. Program in Art Conservation Research is not currently accepting applications for graduate study. 

The Ph.D. program in Art Conservation Research is designed for practicing conservators and conservation scientists who are interested in the scholarly investigation of problems in the conservation field. The program provides formal training in research methodology and advanced studies in the relevant sciences and humanities disciplines. A plan of study is individually designed for each student within the framework of University and departmental requirements. 

Admissions requirements include a master's degree with a strong background in art history, or anthropology, and in chemistry or another science; a working familiarity with problems in the field of art conservation; and submission of GRE scores, three letters of recommendation, a writing sample, and a plan of study (including a statement of objectives, an outline of projected course work, and a general indication of a dissertation topic). All students are expected to have upon enrollment, or to gain at the earliest possible moment, a reading ability in two foreign languages. 

Eight graduate-level courses (excluding any language courses necessary) are required and are to be divided between the humanities discipline and the science discipline related to the dissertation research. Dissertations may focus on studies of the deterioration of works of art, conservation materials or methods, or technical analyses for provenance or authenticity purposes. Written and oral qualifying examinations must be passed, as well as a final dissertation defense. The program is to be completed within five years, including a minimum of one year in residence. 

Some fellowship support is available in honor of Dr. Paul Coremans, founder of the Institut Royal du Patrimoine Artistique in Belgium and facilitator of the type of interdisciplinary research in conservation expected of students in the Ph.D. program.