Graduate Certificate in Heritage Materials Conservation

Conserve cultural heritage with this hands-on degree

Turn your passion for art and heritage into a career, with this short qualification in conserving heritage materials.

Gain the skills required to propel your career in the cultural heritage and museum sector.  Explore how to identify materials and how they’re made and begin the journey of learning how to conserve them as collections in museums and galleries, or as part of built heritage sites. 

Choose to study full-time and complete this qualification in as little as 4-months (one semester), or complete it part-time over two semesters. Take advantage of a discounted Commonwealth Support Place available on a first come, first served basis (2021 only).

Through practical field-based workshops and behind-the-scenes tours of heritage sites and collections, you will learn to investigate the condition and significance of heritage items. You’ll develop conservation and management plans for materials, and carry out laboratory and on-site treatment techniques to preserve and restore them.

Have a particular passion or interest in a subsection of history or culture? The flexibility to develop your personal vision as a professional is intrinsic to the course., with specialist mentors available for key areas.

All units within this course contain Indigenous cultural content as a key underpinning to theory. 

Study a Graduate Certificate in Heritage Materials Conservation at UC and you will:

• apply values-based methodologies to identify the stakeholders and values that must be taken into account in conservation planning
• use observation and analysis to accurately identify heritage materials, their condition, and their responses to environmental conditions
• integrate physical data and cultural understandings to develop sustainable conservation treatment and management plans for heritage
• determine and apply appropriate preservation, conservation and restoration techniques to conserve and enhance heritage materials.

Work Integrated Learning (WIL)

Work Integrated Learning (WIL) is a significant focus of the course, with all units centred around the development of key methods, techniques and skills required for work in the field of cultural heritage.

As part of your studies you will gain extensive practical experience working in real-life industry scenarios, participate in site-based tutorials, explore numerous local and international case studies, while also contributing to group projects and research work.

You will also gain access to mentors from within the industry, deliver presentations to culture and heritage practitioners, and be challenged working with simulations of real-world industry design briefs.

If you are already employed in the sector, you will also be encouraged to use your past experiences to reflect on current industry practice, problems and issues.

Career opportunities

• conservator
• head of heritage
• heritage consultant
• curator
• gallery manager
• indigenous heritage officer
• collections manager
• heritage manager
• engineering heritage consultant
• historic buildings conservation officer
• culture and heritage officer
• heritage site manager
• heritage and cultural policy adviser

Course-specific information

Students who have completed this course may apply and receive credit for units within the Graduate Diploma in Creative and Cultural Futures or the Master of Arts in Creative and Cultural Futures.