01.07.2010: MAINZ RESEARCH ALLIANCE accepts Natural History Museum Mainz as a member

A strong and important partner in active research and comprehensive knowledge transfer

As of 1 July 2010, the Natural History Museum Mainz will be a member of the MAINZ RESEARCH ALLIANCE. The Natural History Museum is now one of 17 facilities and institutions that include the Mainz universities and Max Planck institutes, the Academy of Sciences and Literature, the Roman-Germanic Central Museum, and a range of research institutes and companies conducting research. The partners of the Alliance engage in networking to support the economic and regional importance of science in Mainz.

"The Natural History Museum is a strong and important partner with influence far beyond the boundaries of the city and state and a firm commitment to active research and comprehensive knowledge transfer," said Professor Georg Krausch, spokesman for the MAINZ RESEARCH ALLIANCE and President of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. "We are extremely pleased about this extension of the ALLIANCE. It is our aim to render Mainz, with its diversity, density and excellent standard of knowledge-based institutions, visible nationally and internationally beyond the borders of the region."

The Natural History Museum was put together using the collections from the Rheinische Naturforschende Gesellschaft (Rhenish Naturalist Society) established in 1834. In 1910, it was reopened as the city museum in the former Klosterkirche der Reichen Klarissen (a monastery church). Today it is the largest scientific museum in Rhineland-Palatinate. The museum reaches a wide audience around the country with its attractive and also internationally significant collections, a historical building in the heart of Mainz, and the specialized knowledge of its museum team and their research activity being observed at a national level.

"The Natural History Museum Mainz has always been a location for science and research. Not only does it keep, maintain and offer a very efficient research infrastructure for natural scientists from all over the world, but its own scientists actively participate in national and international networks with their research and new discoveries," said Dr. Michael Schmitz, who heads the museum. "The museum is very proud of being accepted as a member of the MAINZ RESEARCH ALLIANCE and perceives this as a recognition of its achievements," Schmitz added.

"We will make our contribution to this strong network to anchor the importance of science to our society more firmly in the public awareness. We want to create excitement about science, in young people in particular, as this will make a sustainable contribution to strengthening the innovative capabilities within companies and the economy."

"For the many years of top-level research and communications work at the Natural History Museum, membership in the MAINZ RESEARCH ALLIANCE serves both as recognition and incentive," explained Marianne Grosse, Cultural Department Head for the city of Mainz. She also explained that the Natural History Museum's public relations work enjoys a good reputation all over the country. "There are plans to expand the Natural History Museum Mainz in the next few years and to turn it into a leading institution for ecological training and science communications in Rhineland-Palatinate. As a modern out of school and out of university place of learning, it is open to everyone from all cultures, ages, education levels, abilities, financial resources, or religious faiths," emphasized the Cultural Department Head.