Press release -
New programme offers postgraduate research opportunities at Nationalmuseum
The Young Scholars programme aims to offer recent graduates the chance to pursue short research projects at Nationalmuseum. Over the next year, the museum will facilitate at least two such projects thanks to external funding from the Beijer Foundation and the Ulf Gillberg–Lennart Agerberg Foundation. The museum hopes more funding partners will join the programme in future.
Under the Young Scholars programme, Nationalmuseum is offering master’s graduates in art history the opportunity to participate in short research projects centred on the museum’s collections and activities. Successful candidates will be given a three-month research contract, in the course of which they are to write an academic paper on a topic proposed by the museum. In this way, early-career researchers will gain experience of working in a museum environment, aiding their professional development, while Nationalmuseum will gain in-depth studies of lesser-known aspects of its collections. The museum aims to offer research contracts to four researchers annually over a period of three years.
The extensive collections and activities of Nationalmuseum hold the potential for new research findings and approaches. With the opportunity to study individual objects up close, the museum offers a research environment that goes beyond what colleges and universities can provide. Besides conducting its own projects, the museum’s research department manages researchers on externally funded project-specific contracts. These projects are usually staffed by more senior, established researchers, and it can be hard for early-career researchers to land a job at the museum. By offering short-term contracts, the museum can give more graduates the opportunity of a first research post with access to experienced supervisors drawn from the museum staff.
For 2023, Nationalmuseum has so far been granted funding from the Beijer Foundation for a scholar to write a paper on the household goods shop Vackrare vardagsvara. The Ulf Gillberg–Lennart Agerberg Foundation has granted funding for a scholar to write about contemporary silver objects. These posts will be open for applications on the Nationalmuseum website until 8 January 2023.
Media enquiries
Hanna Tottmar, head of press, press@nationalmuseum.se, +46 8 5195 4400
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Nationalmuseum is Sweden’s museum of art and design. The collections comprise some 700 000 objects, including paintings, sculpture, drawings and graphic art from the 16th century up to the beginning of the 20th century and the collection of applied art and design up to the present day. Nationalmuseum’s responsibility is to preserve and make art accessible and provide knowledge. The museum was appointed the Swedish Museum of the Year 2022.
