News

Seales to present in NSF CISE Distinguished Lecture Series September 11, 11:00AM-12:30PM

Aug 20, 2025

Dr. W. Brent Seales, Stanley and Karen Pigman Chair of Heritage Science and Professor of Computer Science at the University of Kentucky will be presenting "On Perseverance: Virtually Unwrapping the Herculaneum Scrolls" in the Computer & Information Science & Engineering Directorate (CISE) Distinguished Lecture Series.

Herculaneum scroll with red laser lines being scanned at Institut de France by Brent Seales and his team.

UK’s Brent Seales, global team secures Europe’s top research grant to digitally decode Herculaneum scrolls

Lindsey Piercy

Jul 28, 2025

Brent Seales, heritage science chair in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering at the University of Kentucky, has been awarded a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Synergy Grant as part of an international team seeking to unlock the secrets of the Herculaneum scrolls.

Seales honored with UK Libraries Medallion for Intellectual Achievement

Robby Hardesty

May 7, 2025

University of Kentucky Libraries has honored W. Brent Seales, Ph.D., the Stanley and Karen Pigman Chair of Heritage Science and Professor of Computer Science, as the 2025 recipient of the UK Libraries Medallion for Intellectual Achievement.

EduceLab unveiled as UK’s gateway to next-generation heritage science

Lindsey Piercy

Apr 29, 2025

Made possible by a $14 million infrastructure grant from the National Science Foundation, EduceLab is the university’s bold vision for next-generation heritage science. The lab was unveiled during a “soft opening” last week — launching a new era of discovery, education and innovation at the intersection of the humanities, engineering and data science.

UK’s Brent Seales is joining the AI & Advanced Computing Institute at Schmidt Sciences

Bridging past and future: UK’s Brent Seales to lead national AI-humanities initiative at Schmidt Sciences

Jan 16, 2025

Brent Seales, Ph.D,  a computer science professor in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering at the University of Kentucky, has been selected to lead a new national program that supports research at the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and the humanities.

Vesuvius Challenge grand prize winners announced

Feb 5, 2024

The Vesuvius Challenge has announced the grand prize winners of its global AI contest to virtually unwrap a still-rolled carbonized papyrus scroll from the ancient city of Herculaneum. The virtual unwrapping software utilized in the contest was developed by Pigman Endowed Professor of Heritage Science Brent Seales.

BREAKTHROUGH: Discovery made from within 2,000 year-old Herculaneum scrolls

Oct 16, 2023

The Herculaneum scrolls are among the most iconic and inaccessible of the world’s vast collection of damaged manuscripts, but since being burned and carbonized by the catastrophic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE, they’ve been deemed “unreadable.” Until now.

Herculaneum scrolls: A 20-year journey to read the unreadable

Aug 25, 2023

Restoring an ancient library from the ashes of Mount Vesuvius is now closer to a reality. To highlight the progress, this is the first in a four-video series featuring Brent Seales, University of Kentucky Alumni Professor in the Department of Computer Science