As the Museum für Naturkunde is a research museum, one of our essential tasks is to communicate to the general public and to the world of politics and business:

• why this research is important
• what is being researched
• which results we obtain
• what knowledge is being gained for all of society
  

Another important task is communication and networking inside the scientific community.

These two aspects of communication are the research objects within Science Program Science Communication and History of Science.

The reason for the first research objective – communicating research to the public – is that the mere publication of research findings does not lead to its comprehension by the general public and to politicians taking action accordingly, or to people in general changing their behaviour in the interest of our planet’s needs. It is our aim, rather, to promote these actions by inviting everybody engaged with the Museum to take an active interest in our activities. Evaluation of educational programs, development of new strategies, and development of synergies between our natural scientific programs and cultural studies are all part of this program.

The second aspect – networking in the scientific community – is becoming increasingly important, as biodiversity is dwindling away rapidly. We only have a chance to ameliorate with a concerted approach to the huge amount of research that has to be done by all scientists involved. The Museum für Naturkunde is already part of several European and global projects working in this field, and the Museum’s involvement with these is part of the research activities of Science Program Science Communication and History of Science.