About 12 years ago the Conservation Science Department was set up at the Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM), starting with one scientist. The new department was meant to support the restorers of the eight in-house collections in answering questions concerning materials and techniques used by the artists as well as in solving restoration problems.

Since 1998 the Conservation Science Department is available to curators and restorers of the Kunsthistorisches Museum (since 2001 also for the affiliated institutions Museum of Ethnology Vienna (MVK) and Austrian Theatre Museum (ÖTM)), doing physical and chemical investigations.

From 2002 onward the laboratory was enlarged in personnel and analytical techniques, partly due to projects supported by different Austrian research bodies. The modern analytical instruments, necessary for studying special topics, were mainly financed by research fundings. Today the Conservation Science Department supervises a number of research projects and has five staff members, including project co-workers.