Structure of studies and conditions Students follow the degree course in the textile conservation workshop of the Abegg-Stiftung in cooperation with the Swiss Conservation-Restoration Campus (Swiss CRC), in particular with the Bern University of Arts (BUA). The Abegg-Stiftung accepts one new student per year; the course starts on July 1st. The five students are not organised in classes, but are supervised individually, according to their level of training, by the head of the textile conservation workshop and the senior conservators. Students choose the specialisation textiles right from the beginning of their studies. The three-year Bachelor’s programme offers an overall education in preventive conservation, an introduction to specific textile topics – such as textile conservation and historic textile sciences – and theoretic basic knowledge in conservation-restoration. Students follow the introductory modules in preventive conservation, humanities and natural sciences as well as in technology of artefacts and conservation at the Bern University of Arts (BUA). Specific modules in the specialisation textiles are taught by internal and external docents at the Abegg-Stiftung. Students attend courses in the specialisation textiles already in the first two years of study. In the third year of the Bachelor's programme modules and courses concentrate on textile conservation, students follow among others the weaving-analysis course of the Centre International d’Étude des Textiles Anciens (CIETA) in Lyon. The subsequent Master’s programme focuses on textile conservation and restoration. It comprises practical and theoretical modules. The programme is complemented by modules at the BUA. Students complete the degree course with a Master’s thesis to be written during the last six months of the programme. The Master’s thesis should involve practical and theoretical skills and includes some autonomous research related to the conservation and/or restoration of a single textile or a group of textiles. The degree course is a full time study programme (48 weeks per year). The period between lectures at the BUA is devoted to practical projects in the conservation workshop of the Abegg-Stiftung as well as to the amount of self-study required for the theory modules. In consideration of their contribution to current projects, the Abegg-Stiftung grants all students a scholarship covering their accommodation and living expenses.