One of Scotland's leading universities has received more than £350,000 to help train curators to conserve contemporary art made from unusual or unorthodox materials.

Often contemporary or conceptual art is made from materials very different from the traditional materials of oil and canvass, marble and bronze or paper and pencil.

Now the University of Glasgow has received more than €500,000 to help train, as part of a European network of training, ten PhD students in "addressing fundamental questions concerning the identity, values and authenticity of modern and contemporary artworks and the consequences for their conservation and curation."

The project will be led by Dr Erma Hermens, senior lecturer in Technical Art History.

Dr Hermens said: "A major problem for the conservation of contemporary art is that traditional conservation methods don't really answer the problems posed by the complex materials used and their often conceptual, ephemeral, dynamic and performative character.

"This funding brings together universities, museums, and conservation institutions and studios from around Europe and the United States, to develop a consistent strategy and body of knowledge when it comes to contemporary art conservation research."

The other partners in the training are Maastricht University, University of Amsterdam, Tate London, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, University of Porto and Cologne University of Applied Sciences, Museo delle Culture, Milan, University of Roma III, and the Academy of Fine Arts, Warsaw.

One of the Glasgow-based PhDs will have the unique opportunity to work for six months in New York with Christian Scheidemann, director of Contemporary Conservation Ltd, which specialises in contemporary art conservation.

Mr Scheidemann said: "The new Marie Curie network is an important instrument and platform to research strategies for maintaining the physical and intellectual integrity and historic value of contemporary art.

"The challenge for the conservator lies in acknowledging all these factors, finding a way to restore these works made of non-durable materials and to educate people involved about the complex sensitive nature of contemporary art."