The Institut national du patrimoine offers its student conservator-restorers and curators an approach to research centred on professional realities.
The initial training of conservator-restorers includes an introduction to research and the practice of research during the five years that lead to the Master's degree. In the third year, students work in groups, mixing specialities, to examine a topic of workshop practice and translate it into the form a plan of experimental study (the PEEX or “Projet d'étude experimental” module). An academic article is drafted from this and published in the research collection (link to PEEX collection). In the fifth year, during thesis preparation, part of the work is devoted to the scientific protocol. This protocol provides a scientific response to an issue raised by the object being studied and the project for its conservation-restoration (link to theses). The increasing involvement of the workshops in research projects is also an important element in training on research.
In almost all cases, the curatorial students who are successful in the Institut's competitive examination begin their training with at least a master’s degree. Several have doctorates, and a significant number hold two master’s degrees or hold a master's degree and have completed a dissertation at the École des Chartes.
The institute's training programme takes this high level of education into account and allows students to pursue their personal academic development while completing their practical training, preparing them for the expert tasks they will be called upon to perform during their professional lives. One day a week is devoted to research.
