The Cyprus Institute

Thaleia Gkraikou

Thaleia’s Bachelor’s studies concern the management and conservation of cultural heritage objects. She has participated in a number of projects during and after her studies and has worked on documentation of artifacts and historical archives (such as in the Theological School of Halki – Heybeliada, Turkey for 3 months). Her Bachelor’s thesis was titled ‘’Formation of Hydrophobic coatings with the use of nanoparticles for the protection of Cultural Heritage objects’’.

She continued with Master’s studies at the Chemical Department of Aristotle University in Thessaloniki. She performed sampling on the surface of monuments contributing to the understanding of the wearing process and her Master’s thesis was entitled: ‘’Physical and Chemical Methods for Diagnosis of Degradation of Cultural Heritage Materials’’. Wanting to further understand the sources and the impact of environmental pollution, she applied and was accepted to the Environmental Sciences Master’s program at The Cyprus Institute.

Research Interests

• Conservation and restoration of damages and previous interventions on wall/paintings
• Protection and preservation of Cultural Heritage and Ecosystems
• Preparation of samples for physical-chemical methods, digital scanning, SEM EDX, IR-Ref, XRF, Ion Chromatography, FTIR Spectroscopy, ICP-MS
• Environmental pollution screening