The study and inventory of MNAz’s so-called Ancient Estate is enabled by a combined research effort shared by the museum’s Inventory and Conservation and Restoration Departments, with the initial collaboration of Az (formerly RTEACJMSS) . 

This combined effort allowed, on the one hand, for the fulfilment of one of the museum’s main tasks, which is to inventory and preserve its collection, and, on the other, for the development of studies on azulejos and ceramics based on the legacy of the museum’s founder and first conservator, João Miguel dos Santos Simões.

The collaboration also included the participation and training of two young students with research integration scholarships (BII), Thomas Secretin and Alexandre Yin (ISR/IST), who developed the application Azulejos imaging, launched in February 2009, under the supervision of Alessio del Bue (ISR/IST). The aim of this application was to create a digital tool capable of establishing an automatic connection between incomplete tile panels and loose tiles, i.e. matching lost tiles and the corresponding panels, thereby supporting and enabling an efficient solution to this recurring problem.

Currently, Giving back to the View welcomes interns and volunteers from several institutions, among which students from the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon, supervised at the university by researchers connected to Az.