Chiara Piccoli is an Assistant Professor at the Amsterdam Centre for Ancient Studies and Archaeology. She is an affiliated member of the UvA Data Science Centre. Her research investigates the historical relationship between people, their built environments, and their material culture using digital methods, specifically 3D modelling and GIS mapping.

From 2022 to 2026, she has worked as a Research Associate at the 4D Research Lab of the University of Amsterdam. Previously, from 2018 to 2022, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the same university within the NWO-funded project Virtual Interiors as Interfaces for Big Historical Data. By analysing archival and building historical sources, she created 3D reconstructions of selected seventeenth-century Amsterdam interiors to investigate the use and experience of domestic spaces. One of the results of her research is her monograph on the home library and books of Pieter de Graeff (1638-1707), Amsterdam patrician and VOC director (Brill, 2025) which is accompanied by a 3D Scholarly Edition of the library's reconstruction hypothesis.

Prior to joining the University of Amsterdam, she was a member of the research and teaching staff in the Digital Archaeology group of Leiden University. She was also appointed researcher for the FP7 European project CEEDS - The Collective Experience of Empathic Data Systems, which aimed to develop innovative tools to exploit implicit human responses to guide users in discovering patterns and meaning within large datasets.

Her publications include Visualizing cityscapes of Classical antiquity: from early modern reconstruction drawings to digital 3D models (Archaeopress, 2018) resulting from her PhD research. She also co-edited Advanced research and design tools for architectural heritage. Unforeseen paths (Routledge, 2024) with Stefania Stellacci and Danilo Giglitto, and The three dimensions of archaeology (Archaeopress, 2016) with Hans Kamermans, Wieke de Neef, Axel G. Posluschny and Roberto Scopigno. 

Chiara holds an MA in Greek and Roman Archaeology (University of Siena, 2008) and an MA in Book and Digital Media Studies (Leiden University, 2010) for which she was awarded the Tiele-Stichting thesis prize in 2011 for the best thesis in the field of Book Studies in the Netherlands.

Project portfolio at https://visualpasts.eu/

Pure3D 2.0 (Open Science Infrastructure - Large projects 2026-2029; Co-applicant; role: WP co-leader; Urban history use case lead).
PURE3D2.0 advances web-based 3D scholarship through the creation of interactive publications (3D Scholarly Editions)—from scholarly arguments and educational curricula to museum stories—by integrating annotations, metadata, and multimodal contextual materials. Building on the existing PURE3D infrastructure, the first open, non-commercial platform for rich 3D-based scholarly narratives, PURE3D2.0 addresses key gaps in preservation, dynamic analysis, interoperability, and accessibility. Through its three pillars—Workflows, Applications, and User Communities—it delivers sustainable solutions for open publication and skills development, enabling FAIR-compliant, peer-reviewed, and reusable 3D scholarship. PURE3D2.0 strengthens leadership in digital humanities and heritage, ensuring seamless integration with (inter)national infrastructures.

Visual (Synthetic) History and AI: Exploring the design and implementation of Provenance Tracking Tools for AI-edited media of historical content (NWO Impact Explorer 2026-2027; Applicant; role: Principal Investigator)

AI-PastScapes: Artificial Intelligence assisted 3D reconstruction of historical cities (NWO XS 2025; Applicant; role: Principal Investigator)
This project investigates how Artificial Intelligence can be effectively used to automate the 3D reconstruction of vanished buildings starting from historical images.

Dynamic3D (Open eScience call 2025-2027; Co-applicant)
Dynamic3D seeks to transform how we interact with and understand 3D models in the humanities and social sciences. By enhancing the Smithsonian's Voyager platform, it will introduce tools for real-time simulations, exploring variables and hypotheses, and visualising uncertainties.

From convent to knowledge quarter (completed in 2024, role: Team member)
In this project, 4D Research Lab researchers have created historical reconstructions of a selection of buildings in the Amsterdam University Quarter to show their transformation through time.

Virtual Interiors (NWO 2018-2023; role: Postdoctoral researcher)
The Virtual Interiors project focused on the question of how we can develop and publish digital maps and virtual rooms using historical data to reliably represent cultural objects in seventeenth-century interiors, expressing what we know and do not know.

CEEDs – The Collective Experience of Empathic Data Systems (EU funded 2010-2015; role: Researcher)
CEEDs aimed to develop innovative tools to exploit implicit human responses to guide users in discovering patterns and meaning within large datasets.

• Experiences and uses of domestic and urban spaces in the past
• Early modern private libraries and the transmission of knowledge
• Temporal 3D (4D) modelling for historical research
• Digital storytelling
• Semi-automated and AI-assisted 3D modelling techniques for cultural heritage
• Visualization of uncertainty and ethical considerations in digital reconstructions
• Representation of the past in AI-generated content

In the academic year 2026/2027, Chiara serves as the UvA coordinator of the Digital Archaelogy and Heritage MA specialisation. Her teaching responsibilities include coordinating and instructing "3D Visualization & Virtual Reconstruction" (MA in Archaeology) and "Digital 3D Techniques and Methodologies for Conservation and Art Technological Research" (MA in Conservation and Restoration). Additionally, she co-teaches "Digitization of the Past and Present" (MA in Archaeology), "Digital Archaeology" (BA in Archaeology), and "De Digitale Stad" (The Digital City) as part of the Master's in Urban and Architectural History.

In 2024 she was awarded a grassroots grant to develop a prototype immersive Virtual Reality environment for teaching digital restoration practices. She holds a Dutch University Teaching Qualification (BKO).