Digitally deciphering old writings and thus making history visible - that is the aim of the interdisciplinary and international research project "DESCRYPT" ("Echoes of History: Analysis and Decipherment of Historical Writings"). In addition to colleagues from renowned research institutions in Sweden, Norway, Spain and Hungary, Professor Dr Nils Kopal from the Department of Engineering and Computer Science at the Hochschule Niederrhein (HSNR) is also involved in this project.
For his research in the field of historical cryptanalysis and the study of unsolved writing systems, Professor Kopal has received funding totalling almost four million Swedish kronor (around 345,000 euros) from the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, the fund of the National Bank of Sweden.
"DESCRYPT" is an interdisciplinary research project that focuses on analysing and deciphering ancient scripts with rare or unknown writing systems and examining historical, encrypted documents. With the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and automated image, speech and cryptanalysis, the researchers are developing new algorithms, methods and tools that make it possible to recognise, transcribe and interpret such texts.
The project started in January 2025 and is designed to run for several years until 2033. It builds on the successful DECRYPT project, in which Prof Dr Nils Kopal had already been involved for five years. "DESCRYPT" aims to make a significant contribution to the preservation and interpretation of cultural heritage - in particular by digitally recording, transcribing and analysing historical manuscripts, ciphers and previously unknown writing systems from all over the world.
