A distinguished international commission of experts has confirmed: The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Research, is “very good to excellent” in all three areas, research, infrastructure and knowledge transfer. The recently published evaluation report describes the research museum as a driving force in the international museum landscape and as a globally visible role model. The Zukunftsplan [future plan] of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin is regarded as trend-setting and very forward looking.
“We are very pleased with this balanced and most encouraging assessment by this distinguished commission and , first and foremost, with the recognition of the achievements of the entire Museum team,,” said Johannes Vogel, Director General of the Museum für Naturkunde. “We were delighted by the endorsement of the Zukunftsplan, which gives us the unique opportunity to create a science campus for nature.” Managing Director Stephan Junker emphasizes: “This positive result of the evaluation is extremely important for our future and encourages us in our development.”
According to the evaluation report of the international expert commission, the museum's unique collection is being developed “with great dedication and at a high level of expertise.” As one of “the most important natural history collections in the world”, it is made accessible to society and secured for the long term. In an integrated collection-based approach, the museum's research makes “impressive use of the museum stocks, including the extensive animal sound archive” of the Museum”. The research questions addressed are “of exceptionally high scientific interest” and produce relevant and “highly visible results”. The high visibility of the scientists in specialist communities and the productive and supportive culture of close exchange within the Museum were emphasized.
The wealth of knowledge generated by the Museum’s research is being made available effectively to society, policy, culture and business. The museum has expanded its policy advice and achieved “a [visitor] increase in groups of people who are often difficult to reach," especially young adults. The science-based knowledge transfer and communication formats are judged as being “outstanding”. These include the Experimentierfeld [experimental field] and the media application laboratory whose “approaches and the methodological knowledge thus acquired are ground-breaking”. With this “innovative infrastructure” the Museum has become a "source of inspiration for the German museum landscape.”
The “exceptionally dynamic” development of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin from a traditional natural history museum to an integrated research museum was highlighted. The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin today plays a leading role globally and is an extremely active force. . The museum is a model for museums in Germany, not only in the field of natural history. According to the expert commission the strategic development of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin has created the basis for developing an open and integrated natural history museum as a central part of the future science campus.
The institutes of the Leibniz Association are jointly funded by the Federal Government and the Länder on account of their supra-regional importance and the importance of national science policy. The Joint Science Conference (GWK) has commissioned the Leibniz Association to evaluate each institute every seven years by an external commission of experts. This evaluation forms the basis for reviewing whether the conditions for public funding continue to be met.
- The complete evaluation report including all formal annexes can be viewed here.
- Further information about the evaluation can be found here.
- Further information about the Zukunftsplan: Masterplanning, Science Campus