Loan policy and operations
Objects from the collections at the National Museum of Natural History are regularly loaned to external scientific research institutions for identification and scientific research, but also to other institutions for exhibition and educational purposes.
In some cases we also grant loans for commercial purposes for a reasonable fee. All loans are covered by the National Museum of Natural History's lending guidelines. Please note that additional conditions for loans and sampling may vary between the museum's collections. Read more about this on the individual collection pages.
Who can borrow?
For scientific purposes, only researchers affiliated with established scientific institutions can obtain loans from the collections. Researchers who are not affiliated with an institution can obtain material on loan, but only if permanent staff at a scientific institution apply and take formal responsibility for the loan on their behalf.
Similarly, students can only obtain loans through a supervisor at a scientific institution. On each occasion, the receiving institution must take formal responsibility for the items, and ensure that adequate storage is provided and that the safety of the material is guaranteed during storage and work.
Pictures and photographs
In addition to physical loans, some of the research units at the National Museum of Natural History can also provide images/photographs on request. Each loan application will be considered to meet the applicant's needs, but decisions regarding loans, images on request and destructive use (for example preparation, sampling, DNA analysis, etc.) are made on a case-by-case basis.
