The mission of the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage (ACDH-CH) is to bring together, raise the profile of, and strengthen two equally important areas of research at the Austrian Academy of Sciences:
First, the institute promotes research in the humanities through the targeted use of digital methods and the development of innovative technologies. By building on the methodological and theoretical paradigms of the Digital Humanities (DH), the institute bundles relevant competences, integrates existing resources and, thus sustainably increases the efficiency of research (including data collection, processing, archiving, visualization, and publication).
Second, the institute promotes foundational research on the cataloguing, preservation, and interpretation of cultural heritage (CH) as part of its long-term projects and a wide range of other research. Particular focal points of the institute’s digitally oriented CH research are also reflected in the institute’s structure and are embedded in the paradigms of linguistics, literary and textual studies, as well as musicology. Within the ACDH-CH, these two central pillars of DH and CH research cross-pollinate and inform each other in an optimal way, thereby contributing to the development of joint work on the rich treasure of cultural heritage.
The ACDH-CH strives for the broadest possible impact by promoting young researchers across all institutes of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and disseminating relevant expertise within the wider research community and society as a whole. In the spirit of contemporary research, the institute’s transdisciplinary approach not only engages the academic community, but also increasingly other areas of civil society (including the economy, politics, art, and culture) as partners in order to proactively stimulate innovation processes. In accordance with existing guidelines of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the DH strategy for Austria developed under the leadership of the Academy, we are committed to the principles of Open Science and openly support Open Access (not only for research results, but also for research data) and the FAIR principles.