The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, the Conservation Center at the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University, the Winterthur Museum, Cornell University and Brookhaven National Laboratory are organizing the Fifth International Conference on Synchrotron Radiation in Art and Archaeology (SR2A 2012) in New York City. The central theme of the SR2A series of conferences is the innovative use of methods employing synchrotron radiation (and/or related types of radiation) for the (non-destructive) investigation of artistic and archaeological materials and artifacts.

The emphasis of the fifth edition of SR2A will be placed on the manner in which synchrotron radiation and other types of penetrating radiation (THz, neutrons, ...) can be used together to characterize artists' materials and archaeological artifacts. Contributions will focus on the exploration of new analytical frontiers, and will also address research challenges of curators, conservators and other professionals working in the cultural heritage field.