NTNU University Museum

About

The NTNU University Museum (Norwegian: Vitenskapsmuseet) in Trondheim is one of seven Norwegian university museums with natural and cultural history collections and exhibits. The museum has research and administrative responsibility over archaeology and biology in Central Norway. Additionally, the museum operates comprehensive community outreach programs and has exhibits in wooden buildings in Kalvskinnet. The Ringve Botanical Garden in Lade in Trondheim Municipality as well as Kongsvoll Alpine Garden in Dovre Municipality are also under the jurisdiction of the NTNU University Museum. The museum has its roots in the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters (Norwegian: Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab, DKNVS, formerly "The Trondheim Society", Norwegian: Det Trondheimske Selskab) since 1760. Since 1968, the museum was closely affiliated with the University of Trondheim, then with NTNU since 1996. In addition to managing archives and producing exhibits, the museum participates in larger research projects and cooperates with other university museums in digitizing collected works and building databases. Norway's Museum Union (Norwegian: Norges museumsforbund) named the NTNU...

The museum's history can be traced to 1760, when two Norwegians, bishop Johan Ernst Gunnerus and historian and rector Gerhard Schøning, and the Danish historian Peter Frederik Suhm established Det Trondhiemske Selskab. In 1767, the society received royal confirmation of its statutes, and the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters (DKNVS) was officially formed. DKNVS then began the process of collecting archaeological and natural history materials, which eventually became the organization's main task.

In 1926, the DKNVS was reorganized and split into an academy and museum, and the DKNVS Museum has since then operated independently. With the establishment of the University in Trondheim in 1968, the museum merged with the university.

A new reorganization effective January 1, 1996 lead to the establishment of the Norwegian University of Sciences and Technology (NTNU). From this point, the museum was officially referred to as the NTNU University Museum.

In 2005, the museum was elevated to the same title as the faculties within NTNU and became a semi-independent entity within the university, placed directly under the jurisdiction of the university leadership like any other faculty.

The museum is tasked with developing and conveying knowledge about nature and culture. It is also responsible for protecting and preserving scientific collections, as well as making them available for research, development, and propagation.

The Cultural Heritage Act defines the tasks and scopes of such work in paragraph 1:

Cultural heritage items and cultural heritage environments in distinctive and varied nature shall be protected both as a part of our cultural heritage and identity as a layer in a larger environmental and resource management effort. It is a national responsibility to protect these resources as scientific resources and as a sustainable basis for the experiences, self-understanding, enjoyment, and being of current and future generations.

The museum's geographic jurisdictions is outlined in the Act's second paragraph:

The Sør-Trøndelag and Nord-Trøndelag counties, the municipalities Molde, Kristiansund, Vestnes, Rauma, Nesset, Midsund, Sandøy, Aukra, Fræna, Eide, Averøy, Frei, Gjemnes, Tingvoll, Sunndal, Surnadal, Rindal, Aure, Halsa, Tustna, and Smøla in the Møre og Romsdal counties, along with the municipalities Bindal, Sømna, Brønnøy, Vega, Vevelstad, Herøy, Alstahaug, Leirfjord, Vefsn, Grane, Hattfjelldal, Dønna, Nesna, Hemnes, and Rana in the Nordland county.

The merger between NTNU, Gjørvik University College, Sør-Trøndelag University College (HiST), and Ålesund University College took effect on January 1, 2016. The activities of each faculty in NTNU continued as usually with small changes in 2016, while preparations were made in different areas in regards to study plans, professional and administrative organizing, and quality control in all areas in anticipation of January 1, 2017, the official completion of the merger.

As a part of the merger between NTNU and the three colleges, the museum's own organization was changed, such that the professional divisions were clarified:

- The section for natural history became the Institute of Natural History

- The section for archaeology and cultural history became the Institute for Archaeology and Cultural History The other two sections are mainly service providers and were organized into the museum administration virtually unaltered:

- The section for development changed its name to the Section for Public Exhibitions

- The National Laboratory for Dating has not changed its name. The Institute of Natural History deals with research within biogeography, biosystems, and ecology, with an emphasis on preservation biology. Within NTNU, the institute has had the special responsibility of building and maintain scientific collections of objects and long-term data series. The institute also operates a taxidermy laboratory, two botanical gardens, and provides training and student advising within its professional scope.

The Institute of Archaeology and Cultural History deals with research in pre-historic, historic, and Sami archaeology and operates the laboratory for preservation technology. The institute has had the special responsibility for implementing archaeological surveys and excavations in Trøndelag, Nordmøre, Romsdal, and Helgeland. The institute has a conservation laboratory, and is responsible for the cultural history collections. The institute also provides training for profession-oriented archaeology.

The Section for Public Exhibitions is responsible for the museum's exhibition business. This includes the production and operations of the exhibitions, sometimes on contract from external partners, as well as activities and events, educational programs, hosting programs, and the museum gift shop. This section also cooperates with the NTNU Communications Department to coordinate the lecture series "NTNU Night".

The National Laboratory for Dating uses natural scientific measuring methods to date archaeological, natural historic, and geological materials. The laboratory for carbon-14 dating is the only laboratory in Norway that performs dating measurements of archaeological and natural scientific samples of organic materials. The laboratory also dates lumber by means of rings via dendrochronology.

The museum's main areas of research are taxonomy, biological systematics, and evolutionary history; ecological processes and species development; human-nature interactions; cultural materials and forms of culture on a long-term scale; archaeology and advanced technologies alongside dating methods and the development of chronologies.