Association of Friends of Scientific and Technical Collections

Why did the need for such an association arise?

Because these collections are so numerous and diverse, and the need to safeguard and promote them has not always been a priority for universities or research organizations.

Their institutional recognition is relatively recent, and a formal collections department (now SPH) was only set up (at the then UM2) in 2004, and even then with limited human resources.

The staff concerned then joined forces to form the association. The question of their status (prior to the creation of the association) had been raised on several occasions with the legal services of the Ministry of Higher Education, which did not want to hear about "volunteers" within the institutional framework, so the association was created in September 2004.

In what capacity do Association members work?

As experts :

Their expertise (that ofProfessors, researchers, advanced students, doctoral students, practitioners and technical staff who have had, or have had, little or a great deal to do with these collections, enlightened amateurs) can be put to good use at various levels: at the level of the objects, their conservation as well as their enhancement for and through research (making them available to researchers or participating in research, scientific publications...), their enhancement through the selection and presentation of objects to participate in the dissemination of scientific culture (exhibitions, scientific workshops, conferences...).

AACST is a partner and not subordinate to any University department:

Its scope of intervention was clearly defined at the time of its creation, both by its founders and by the University (with the advice of the supervisory ministry) and its then Collections Department.

But, of course, any work on the University's collections (and, by delegation, under the responsibility of the Historical Heritage Department or a research laboratory) can only be carried out with the agreement of the Historical Heritage Department or the research laboratory.