Research

Since 2012, the Centre for the Studies of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) investigates the empirical diversity of manuscript cultures from both a historical and comparative perspective, based on material artefacts.

Projects

Affiliated Projects

Besides being home to the Cluster of Excellence ‘Understanding Written Artefacts’, CSMC houses and is involved with a wide variety of research projects, both independently and in cooperation with partner institutions.

Completed Affiliated Projects

Over the course of its history, the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC), as well as its predecessor, the SFB 950 ‘Manuscript Cultures in Asia, Africa and Europe’, has housed or been involved with a wide variety of completed research projects.

Facilities

Laboratories

CSMC is home to a threefold laboratory system to support the Centre's study of written artefacts both in Hamburg and abroad. It includes a stationary High Performance Lab, the Mobile Lab, and the Container Lab.

Library

The CSMC Reference Library currently houses more than 12,000 books, periodicals, and databases on manuscript research and related fields, including some rare and hard-to-find publications.

Research Data and Data Bases

CSMC strives to make as much data as possible available for open access. The nature of this data ranges from digital images and 3D scans of written artefacts to the raw data and results of material analyses and multispectral imaging.

J.P. Gumbert Dissertation Award

With the J. P. Gumbert Dissertation Award, the CSMC honours outstanding doctoral theses that contribute to any aspect of the study of manuscripts and other written artefacts.