The Graduate Centre located in the Research Institute for Arts and Humanities (RIAH), Swansea University will be offering Arts and Humanities students a range of internships and knowledge exchange placements with national and international heritage organisations.

Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the heritage-themed programme of workshops, master classes and work placements starting in September 2012 is open to postgraduate research students and early career researchers at Swansea University and other Welsh Higher Education Institutions.

A number of high profile heritage organisations, including the National Waterfront Museum, Blaenavon World Heritage Site and the Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust are supporting the project.

Funding has also been secured for an innovative 'Heritage Apprentice Programme' modelled on the popular BBC TV series.

The Apprentice Programme will bring together research students from across the UK giving them the opportunity to work on the Cu@Swansea project, a major Swansea University heritage redevelopment project currently underway at the site of the former Hafod Copperworks and led by Professor Huw Bowen.

There are also opportunities further afield with the chance for students to engage with and drive forward a second major heritage project - the South Asasif Conservation project in Egypt – with extended internships at the site in summer 2013.

Part of the 'Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis' UNESCO World Heritage Site, the focus of the project is the rediscovery of three temple tombs from Egypt's 25-26th dynasties. The project has benefited from the EPSRC-funded Bridging the Gaps programme with an award to facilitate new geophysical imaging to examine the unique site.

Director of the Research Institute for Arts and Humanities, Professor Chris Williams said, “This is an exciting opportunity for postgraduate and early career researchers to bolster their employability credentials, acquire new skills and explore how their academic expertise might translate into employment opportunities in the wider heritage sector.”

Further information on this AHRC-funded heritage programme can be found on the RIAH website: www.swan.ac.uk/riah.