NATURHISTORISCHES MUSEUM

Their core work

The Natural History Museum Vienna (NHMW) is one of Europe's major natural history museums, housing over 30 million scientific specimens spanning zoology, botany, mineralogy, geology, and anthropology. In H2020, they contribute as a collections-holding institution — providing access to physical specimens, taxonomic expertise, and biodiversity data for large-scale European research infrastructures. They also bring interdisciplinary strength at the intersection of natural sciences and humanities, notably in archaeogenomics and migration-period history. Their role is that of a scientific resource provider and domain expert, not a technology developer.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2015-2018, NHMW's H2020 involvement was scattered across diverse topics — space sample curation (EURO-CARES), insect biosystematics (BIG4), and cultural heritage (TRACES) — with no single dominant theme. From 2019 onward, a clear consolidation emerged around scientific collections infrastructure: digitisation, biodiversity data, and the DiSSCo/ESFRI ecosystem became central, alongside a major archaeogenomics project. The recent period shows NHMW positioning itself as a key node in Europe's distributed research infrastructure for natural history collections.

NHMW is consolidating around European research infrastructure for natural science collections (DiSSCo/ESFRI), making them increasingly relevant for biodiversity data access and digital collections projects.

How they like to work

NHMW operates exclusively as a participant — never coordinating — which reflects their role as a domain-expert and collections-holder contributing to larger consortium efforts. With 92 unique partners across 31 countries from just 6 projects, they work in large, pan-European consortia rather than small focused teams. This broad network makes them well-connected but also signals that their value lies in what they bring (specimens, data, taxonomic expertise) rather than in project leadership.

Despite only 6 projects, NHMW has collaborated with 92 unique partners across 31 countries — a remarkably wide network reflecting their participation in large pan-European research infrastructure consortia. Their network spans nearly all EU member states and associated countries.

What sets them apart

NHMW stands out as one of Europe's premier natural history collections, with over 30 million specimens providing irreplaceable scientific resources for biodiversity research. Their dual strength in both natural sciences (taxonomy, geodiversity) and humanities (archaeogenomics, migration history) is unusual for a museum. For consortium builders, they offer direct access to physical specimens, established digitisation workflows, and deep integration into the DiSSCo/ESFRI infrastructure ecosystem.

Highlights from their portfolio

• HistoGenes
  Largest single funding (EUR 782k) and an ERC Synergy Grant — a prestigious interdisciplinary project integrating archaeogenomics with historical research on early medieval migrations.
• SYNTHESYS PLUS
  Core collections-access infrastructure project (EUR 468k) that directly supports NHMW's strategic positioning in the European natural science collections ecosystem.
• EURO-CARES
  Unusual topic for a natural history museum — space sample curation — demonstrating NHMW's mineralogy and geological expertise extends to extraterrestrial materials.