Albania is dotted with a relevant Cultural Heritage witnessing historical and cultural identity of this Country through the Ages. Cultural identity, unrepeatable patrimony, economic value, preservation and valorisation, are keywords recognised in Europe to acknowledge cultural heritage as an extraordinary multidisciplinary subject of high-level research. From material analyses for conservation, to digital heritage, cultural heritage is the perfect subject to gather experts of interconnected competences, to develop valuable research strategies.The proposed project is aimed at enhancing research capacities of Albanian HEIs in the field of conservation and restoration of Cultural Heritage, contributing to Albania accession to EU by supporting the modernization and internationalization of HEIs. The project will proceed over two parallel lines: promoting structural measures to establish research quality standards at ministerial level and supporting research development and innovation at HEI level through the introduction of best practice of cultural heritage research projects.In order to reach this aim, the project will enhance research capacities of Albanian HEIs in the field of conservation and restoration of Cultural Heritage, providing Universities with well-performing, innovative and competitive research methodologies in the field, this resulting into a tangible improvement of key competences, hard skills and critical thinking. Modern, integrated and interdisciplinary research and teaching laboratories will be established, equipped with last generation instruments. Laboratories will also be able to deliver research results outside Academia, endowed with the capacity of integrating research outcomes into stakeholders. The establishment of new laboratories and the building of research capacities will set the basis for the development of innovative research methods, to be transferred to teaching through selected piloting actions to be carried out on Albanian Heritage