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Benjamin Štular, PhD

Principal Research Associate, Head of the Institute, Associate Professor

+386 1 47 06 387

benjamin.stular@zrc-sazu.si


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Dr. Benjamin Štular is Head of the Institute of Archaeology at ZRC SAZU and a leading expert in Early Medieval archaeology, airborne LiDAR and GIS-based landscape analysis. He is a specialist in working with cultural heritage data and uses generative AI to develop innovative, data-driven solutions for documentation, analysis and dissemination. He has extensive experience in coordinating national and international research projects, developing open-source tools for LiDAR data processing, and leading interdisciplinary teams at the intersection of archaeology, geoinformatics, AI and digital humanities, with a strong emphasis on open science and reproducible workflows.

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Education

  • BA in archaeology 2001, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana
  • MA in archaeology 2005, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana
  • PhD in archaeology 2007, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana

Periods of stay abroad

  • 2014: CENDARI TNA Research Fellow for digital humanities at Trinity College Dublin.
  • 2010, 2011: Post-doctoral education at the MSHE C.N. Ledoux, Université de Franche-Comté, Besançon, France.
  • 2009: Researchers Exchange Program na Visual and Spatial Technology Centre at the University of Birmingham, UK;
  • 2008: Geisteswissenschaftliches Zentrum Geschichte und Kultur Ostmitteleuropas, University of Leipzig, Germany;
  • 2006: Department for Archaeology for Medieval and Post-Medieval studies at the Otto-Friedrich University, Bamberg, Germany (Lehrstuhls für Archäologie des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit na Otto-Friedrich-Universität;
  • 2006: Institut for Archaeology, Slovak Academy of Sciences and Arts (AV SAV), Nitra, Slovakia;
  • 2005: Lehrstuhl für Archäologie des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit, Die Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, study visit;
  • 2005: Archeologický ústav SAV, Nitra, Slovaška, study visit;
  • 2004, 2005: Department of Archaeology, Masarik University at Brno, Czech Republic;

Research interests

  • Early and High Medieval (7th-12th c.) archaeology
  • GIS and LiDAR (ALS) derived data
  • Advanced methods of archaeological documentation and dissemination (data bases, 3D "structure from motion", digital publications)
  • Digital curation of archaeological data and digital archaeology
  • Recently also applications of artificial intelligence in archaeology

Teaching

  • 2022→ "The Wolves and the Caesars: Digital Landscape Archaeology in Slovenia. Archaeological field school teaching survey, excavation, LiDAR, and photogrammetry”, co-director (https://wolves-caesars.com/project-staff/)
  • 2017→ Assistant Professor, Course principal of the Archaeology of the Early Medieval period, Postgraduate School of ZRC SAZU
  • 2017→ Assistant Professor, Course principal of the Landscape archaeology, Postgraduate School of ZRC SAZU
  • 2019-2020 – Assistant Professor, Course holder of the Spatial archaeology - archaeology in landscape. Methods and practice of studying Medieval landscapes in archaeology (20S 561.422), University of Graz, Graz, Austria
  • 2017–2019 Assistant Professor: Medieval and Post-Medieval Archaeology, University of Ljubljana/ Faculty of Arts, Department of Archaeology/ Slovenia
  • 2016 − Guest lecturer: LiDAR data in archaeology, Institute of Archeology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
  • 2015 Guest lecturer: LiDAR data in archaeology, University of Arkansas, USA
  • 2014 CENDARI TNA Research Fellow for Digital humanities, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

Organising of scientific meetings

  • 2022 TRAIL 2022, Chief co-organizer, member of Organizing committee, member of Scientific Committee / Slovenia (https://trail.zrc-sazu.si/)
  • 2018 TRAIL 2018, Chief co-organizer, member of Organizing committee, member of Scientific Committee / Slovenia
  • 2016 TRAIL 2016, member of Scientific Committee / France
  • 2014 TRAIL 2014, member of Scientific Committee / France
  • 2014 Computer applications and quantitive methods in archaeology (CAA), session co-chair (Archaeology in the Woods: New Technologies, New Perspectives sensing)

Recognitions and awards

  • 2023: Excellence in Science, article Migration of Alpine Slavs and machine learning: Space-time pattern mining of an archaeological data set, Plos One 17/9 2022, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0274687
  • 2022: Excellence in Science, Open LiDAR Toolbox OLiT: Remote Sensing 13/16, 2021, 3225. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13163225
  • 2021: Excellence in Science, Airborne LiDAR-Derived Digital Elevation Model for Archaeology: Remote Sensing 13/9, 2021, 1855; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13091855
  • 2008: Researchers Exchange Program Exchange Award (British Council)
  • 2005: Scholarship for the most successful young researcher at the ZRC SAZU

Editorial board

Projects and Programmes

Horizon Europe Programme

COST Project

Interreg

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ARIS (Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency)

International Research Programmes

ERC Support Grant

National Research Programme

Bilateral Cooperation

PROGRAMME: Archaeological research (2022−2027) (research programme • January 1, 2022 - December 31, 2027)
Geospatial information technologies for resilient and sustainable society (GeoAI) (July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2028)
AI4Europe (July 1, 2022 - December 31, 2025)
Identifying quarries in the Roman Pannonia (October 1, 2022 - September 30, 2025)
Religiopolitics - the Imperium Christianum and its Commoners (REPLICO) (international research project • May 1, 2023 - April 30, 2026)
TETRACHs (September 1, 2022 - August 31, 2025)
Geospatial Information Technologies for Resilient and Sustainable Society (fundamental project • July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2028)
Carnium and Carneola. The central settlement and its surroundings between antiquity and the Middle Ages (October 1, 2023 - September 30, 2026)
Advanced digital methods in archaeology (bilateral project • January 1, 2023 - December 31, 2024)
Digital Archaeology of a Slovenian Hillfort Landscape (bilateral project • July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2024)
SEADDA - Saving European Archaeology from the Digital Dark Age (March 4, 2019 - March 3, 2023)
ARIADNEplus (January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2022)
Methodological Maturity of Airborne LiDAR in Archaeology - Pilot Project (MALiAp) (October 1, 2019 - September 30, 2022)
Settlement of the south-eastern Alpine region in the Early Middle Ages (November 1, 2018 - October 31, 2022)
At the contact between the Alps and Mediterranean – continuity and turning points (July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2022)
Artefacts and landscapes. Structured Iron Age communities in the Notranjska region (May 1, 2017 - April 30, 2020)
PROGRAMME: Archaeological research (2015−2021) (research programme • January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2021)
ARKWORK - Archaeological practices and knowledge work in the digital environment (February 26, 2016 - October 5, 2020)
Sanctuaries (July 1, 2014 - February 28, 2018)
Ariadne (February 1, 2013 - January 31, 2017)
The Župna Cerkev Cemetery in Kranj (July 1, 2011 - December 31, 2015)
CAMAA (January 15, 2013 - January 14, 2015)
The Krvavec cultural heritage - preparation of tourist product and its management (applied project • January 1, 2007 - December 31, 2009)
Computer-aided archaeological database of the Early Medieval artefacts (applied project • May 1, 2006 - April 30, 2008)
Early non-agrarian settlements as focal points of idea and knowledge transfer in mediaeval Europe (applied project • January 1, 2007 - December 31, 2008)
Long Lasting Development of the Protected Areas - A Wholistic Approach and the Active Role of the State (interdisciplinary project • October 1, 2006 - September 30, 2008)