Doctoral students at the Department of Conservation
Here you find our current doctoral students and brief information about their projects.
Heidi Åberg Berthelsen
In her PhD project, Heidi Åberg Berthelsen is investigating the conservation of the textile ecclesiastical cultural heritage. The ecclesiastical objects are owned and used by the Church of Sweden. The Church of Sweden also manages these objects as a common cultural heritage. The ecclesiastical objects are both a part of the material and immaterial cultural heritage. By investigating the circumstances around the objects in the church, methods of conservation and attitudes towards the conservation of objects in use, Heidi hopes to find how the methods for conservation of the ecclesiastical textiles operate. Heidi has worked for several years with practical conservation, mainly with ecclesiastical textiles.
Géraldine Brun
Doctoral student in sustainable building
Géraldine Brun’s PhD project has its roots in traditional building constructions with wood in cold climates. The project is based on the assumption that knowledge from our past generations can be of interest in our quest for a sustainable future. Building with wood is an invitation to eco-responsible construction and our previous knowledge of properties of wood can influence both design and building practices, as well as forest management and wooden buildings maintenance today. By analysing data from case studies and practical tests, the PhD project aims to result in concrete guidelines for using pre-industrial techniques in the context of the present buildings regulations.
Anna-Karin Jobs Arnberg
In her PhD project, Anna-Karin Jobs Arnberg investigates local folk embroidery in Dalarna as an expression of women’s craft knowledge, social networks, and cultural identity. Drawing on textiles from the collections of Dalarnas Museum and archival sources, the project analyses how women created, used, and transmitted textile knowledge. It highlights their contributions to household economies, local social organisation, and the formation of regional identity.
Sebastian Karlsson
Sebastian Karlsson's doctoral project explores the materiality of cultural heritage by investigating how traces on historical objects, such as dirt, deposits, and other material residues, can provide knowledge about the objects' lives, the environments they have been in, and their conservation history. The project is an interdisciplinary collaboration combining art history, conservation science, environmental history, and chemistry to investigate dirt as a carrier of meaning and information. The project also examines how cleaning affects the material properties of objects and their value as historical documents. By bringing these fields together, the project aims to deepen our understanding of how material traces can be used to reconstruct the life histories of objects and support future conservation strategies. Part of the thesis work is also devoted to developing methods for studying the pigments and material composition of painted objects.
Rebecca Staats
Doctoral student within the HERILAND College of Heritage Planning.
Rebecca Staats’ PhD research explores what can be learned from working at the intersection between heritage studies, place branding and planning. Through a transdisciplinary approach, Rebecca seeks to evaluate current practice in these fields and understand the role of heritage in place management strategies. A core component of her research is to draw greater connections between theory and practice, and to contribute to a framework for sustainable place management. Rebecca’s PhD project is part of the EU funded Marie-Curie HERILAND College of Heritage Planning.
Rebecca Staats defended her thesis in the autumn of 2025.
