About us
How the museum works
Integrating research, collection and society
We are the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin – an open, integrated research museum within the Leibniz Association. Research, collection and public engagement are closely intertwined at our institution. We engage with and influence the scientific and societal discourse about the future of our planet.
Our interdisciplinary teams work with more than 30 million collection objects. They investigate the evolution of life, the dynamics of biodiversity and processes within the solar system. At the same time, we examine the history of our collection and its scientific, cultural and political contexts.
As part of our museum’s evolution, we are developing the museum for the 21st century. In this way, we are creating a modern infrastructure for research and collection and strengthening the exchange between science and society.
Our vision and mission
We discover and describe life and earth – with people, through dialogue.
We discover and describe life and earth – with people, through dialogue.
As an excellent research museum and innovative communication platform, we want to engage with and influence the scientific and societal discourse about the future of our planet, worldwide.
Representative offices and contact points
Women's Representation
Promoting equal opportunities and changing structures
Ombudspeople
Advice on matters of good scientific practice
Staff Council
Representing interests and helping to shape working conditions
Representation for people with severe disabilities
Supporting accessibility and inclusive working conditions
Representation of early career researchers (ECRs)
Representing the interests of PhD students and postdocs
Equality Plan (EP)
Our Equality Plan is a strategic tool designed to ensure equal opportunities. It brings together measures for recruitment and staff development, supports a healthy work-life balance, promotes diversity and combats discrimination.
Despite a high overall proportion of women, women remain under-represented in senior academic positions. This is where the GEP comes in: it aims to reduce this imbalance and enhance the museum’s appeal as an employer.
A key tool is the cascade model. It defines target quotas for each qualification level, based on the proportion of women at the respective lower career level. In this way, we are gradually increasing the proportion of women in management and decision-making positions. In the long term, we aim for gender parity in leadership roles across research, administration and technical departments.
audit berufundfamilie®
The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin has been awarded the audit berufundfamilie® certificate on several occasions. This confirms our commitment to creating working conditions that are family-friendly and tailored to different stages of life.
The work-life balance is an integral part of our strategy. We promote a cooperative management culture based on teamwork, mutual respect and transparent communication. This is underpinned by binding structures and measures that we are continuously developing.
As an institution of the Leibniz Association, we contribute to a shared goal: creating good conditions for work-life balance for all employees.