Natural History Museum Vienna

Research

The museum’s research departments are home to around 60 scientists carrying out fundamental research in a wide range of fields related to earth sciences, life sciences and human sciences. This makes the museum an important centre of public competence centre and one of Austria’s largest non-university research institutions.

Research topics comprise the structure of the Earth and the evolution of the universe just as much as the development and spread of plants and animals from prehistoric times, biodiversity,and genetics. The different appearances and human prehistory, too, are subjects of research at the museum.

Birds collection

The birds collection at the Natural History Museum Vienna is the only public research institution that is exclusively dedicated to this species group. The scientific collections are internationally renowned and rank among the most significant ones worldwide. They are linked to four exhibit halls where visitors can see almost a quarter of the world’s bird species ever described. This richness of the ornithological show area is unique in the world and enables a view that no other museum can offer now.

The material and the relevant collection data provide the basis for a multitude of evaluation possibilities, ranging from fundamental research to applied sciences and issues of nature conservation. Apart from the scientific core area, also important tasks like aspects of science history, biographical and socio-cultural research are addressed.

Vienna Natural History Museum (nhm) and BirdLife Austria

BirdLife is located at the Vienna Natural History Museum and cooperates with nhm in different ways, for example in the framework of joint projects and events, the Avifaunistic Commission, or coordinated scientific libraries.