My passion to address archaeological questions using scientific approaches lead me to enter the art conservation science field of study after I obtained my bachelor’s degree in pure chemistry. My first master's degree is in art conservatrion from University of Isfahan, Iran. I obtained my second master’s degree in archaeological material science through an Erasmus Mundus joint program (ARCHMAT). For years, I have been involved in studying and analysing organic contents of artefacts.

Currently, I am a Marie Curie PhD fellow within an ETN network called PUSHH (Palaeoproteomics to Unleash the Study of Human History). In my project, I am looking at several materials coming from both Uvdal stave church in Norway and two archaeological sites in South Africa namely Blombos Cave and Klipdrift Shelter, to detect and identify protein residues contained in them employing Palaeoproteomic approaches.

To learn more about my PhD program, check out (https://sites.google.com/palaeoproteomics.org/pushh/research-and-phd-projects/z-haghighi-complex-cognition).

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.

Zahra Haghighi, Amir-Hossein Karimy, Farshad Karami, Amir Bagheri Garmarudi & Mohammadreza Khanmohammadi (2019) Infrared spectroscopic and chemometric approach for identifying binding medium in Sukias mansion’s wall paintings, Natural Product Research, 33:7, 1052-1060, DOI: 10.1080/14786419.2015.1108974