Israel Antiquities Authority

Their core work

The Israel Antiquities Authority is the national body responsible for archaeological heritage management, excavation, and conservation in Israel. Within EU research, they contribute specialized expertise in archaeological data management, heritage science, and landscape heritage planning. Their H2020 involvement centers on making archaeological datasets accessible through European research infrastructures and advancing heritage science methods. They bring direct field experience from one of the world's most archaeologically dense regions to pan-European heritage initiatives.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

IAA's earliest H2020 involvement (2017) began with the preparatory phase of the European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science (E-RIHS PP), establishing their role as a heritage science infrastructure partner. From 2019 onward, their focus broadened significantly — adding archaeological data networking (ARIADNEplus), heritage landscape planning with social dimensions like democratisation and shifting demographies (HERILAND), and the operational phase of heritage science infrastructure (IPERION HS). The clear shift is from pure infrastructure preparation toward integrating social, environmental, and digital dimensions into heritage research.

IAA is moving from being a heritage science lab partner toward a broader role connecting archaeological data, landscape planning, and digital research infrastructure — making them increasingly relevant for interdisciplinary heritage projects.

How they like to work

IAA consistently joins as a participant or third-party partner rather than leading consortia — none of their four projects were coordinated by them. They operate in large consortia (124 unique partners across 32 countries), suggesting they are valued as a specialist contributor bringing unique Middle Eastern and Mediterranean archaeological expertise to European-led initiatives. Their participation across multiple related but distinct infrastructure projects indicates they are a trusted, reliable partner in the heritage science community.

Despite being a non-EU associated country participant, IAA has built a remarkably wide network of 124 consortium partners across 32 countries — reflecting their involvement in major pan-European heritage infrastructure projects. Their geographic reach spans virtually all of Europe plus Mediterranean partners.

What sets them apart

IAA is one of very few non-EU national heritage authorities actively embedded in European heritage science infrastructure projects. They bring irreplaceable expertise from managing one of the most archaeologically significant and complex territories in the world — a region where heritage intersects with active urban development, geopolitics, and multi-faith cultural layers. For consortium builders, IAA offers a credible bridge between European heritage research frameworks and Middle Eastern/Mediterranean archaeological realities.

Highlights from their portfolio

• IPERION HS
  Their largest funded project (EUR 89,270), part of the operational European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science — a flagship initiative integrating access to heritage science platforms across Europe.
• ARIADNEplus
  A major archaeological data infrastructure project networking datasets from across Europe — IAA contributes unique datasets from one of the world's most excavated regions.
• HERILAND
  An MSCA training network exploring heritage in landscape planning with social dimensions (democratisation, demography, digital transformation) — shows IAA's expansion beyond pure archaeology into policy-relevant heritage research.