CEICS research in the Heritage and Culture Sub-Campus focuses on two key areas: archaeology and prehistory.
The university and research institutes have become an international benchmark in these fields and their success has led to the formation of a cluster in which universities, research centres and researchers from around the world take part.
Tarragona and its surrounding area is, on its own, the source of a lot of research. The foundation of the Institute of Classical Archaeology (ICAC) and the Institute of Human Palaeoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES) has revolutionized research in this area and not just because of the lines of research and the projects in progress within their walls. These two institutes are leaders in their fields and every year organize conferences and seminars that bring together top national and international experts.
A benchmark institute in classical archaeology: ICAC
The Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology (ICAC) does its work in cooperation with the universities and research institutions in Catalonia involved in the same field. Its area of knowledge is classical archaeology in the broadest sense of the term from a geographic perspective ¿ the Mediterranean arch and the environment in which classical cultures developed ¿ as well as from a chronological perspective, comprising Greek and Roman civilizations and other related peoples.
It has significant projects underway and its researchers, approximately 20 in total, direct research programmes and excavations around the region.
The ICAC currently has twenty researchers doing pre-doctoral training.
The IPHES, scientific research into earth and life sciences
The Catalan Institute of Human Palaeoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES) is an advanced research centre promoting scientific research projects into earth and life sciences. One of its objectives is to disseminate research results, promoting what IPHES calls socialization, i.e. the process by which an individual takes elements of the culture of their social environment and learns, interiorizes and makes them their own. Some of the more noteworthy projects among those it coordinates include excavations at the sites of Sierra d'Atapuerca, the Abric Romaní of Capellades, the Camp dels Ninots in Caldes de Malavella and archaeological work in the Miño Basin, and the research project into the first settlers in Extremadura. The institute also participates in research projects in Algeria, Morocco, Chile and Mexico.
The institute employs around 50 professionals, half of which are internationally renowned teaching and research staff. Over the last few years, the institute's research team has had the most impact in Spain through its international publications.
Eight history and art history research groups are attached to the URV, some of which are linked to both institutes.