Projects, research and partners

The Museum is a scientific research center – particularly for the history of physics and medicine – which attracts national and international scholars and has collaborated with many institutions over the years develop projects for the territory. As a section of the University Museum System of the University of Pavia, the Museum is part of Pavia Museums. Museum System of Pavia, of the Pavia University and of the Pavia Chartreuse and has collaborated with the Golgi Museum in Corteno Golgi, the Semmelweiss Museum in Budapest, the Josephinum in Vienna (Medical University of Vienna).

The Museum has strong ties with local institutions and associations, particularly with schools. Schools, in particular, participate with the Museum in the development of activities and events aimed at multiple audiences; an example is the annual co-creative School/Museum project, which the Museum, together with partners and collaborators, has been proposing since 2005 and which develops ever new and personalized thematic itineraries aimed at schools; among the themes addressed over many years of the project: space messengers, energy, sound, colour, beauty in science… The activities include scientific, historical, artistic and communicative laboratories, as well as a final restitution to the citizens (often with final exhibition), and much more. Find out more on the dedicated website!

Conservation

The Museum houses objects and preparations of a very heterogeneous nature; particular attention is therefore required to monitor the environmental conditions of the rooms and the state of the items on display. Several experts collaborate with the staff at the Museum to study, evaluate and preserve the collections; where necessary, these actions might be followed by restoration activities that are carried out by skilled, licenced professionals.

The risk of microfungal infestation is paid special attention, as one of the main causes of biodegradation of organic and inorganic materials that affects both paper documents and dry preparations. Various assessments have been performed over the years, including qualitative and quantitative evaluation studies of the microfungal component of the particulate present in the air of the Museum rooms and of the display cases. These studies were  carried out by the Mycology Laboratory of the Department of Earth and Environment Sciences of Pavia University.

Conservation activities (studying, cleaning and, in some cases, consolidation) are also conducted on the eighteenth and nineteenth century physics instruments collections, which, with their composite nature (glass, metals, wood), pose particular challenges.