Naturalis Biodiversity Center

Organisation

With a unique combination of knowledge, talents and skills we realize our various functions as a national museum, academic research institute and cultural heritage institution.

Organogram

Naturalis is a foundation. The General Director is responsible for the management and is in turn accountable to the Board of Trustees. The organization is divided into five sectors: Operational management, Research and Education, Collection, Public and Marketing and ICT. Naturalis has a staff of about 700 people (paid and unpaid positions). Management and Trustees Composition Board of Trustees, Board of Directors, and Management Team. Sectors In four sectors we deliver results with respect to collection management, museum, ICT, research and education.

What we do

At Naturalis Biodiversity Center we want to describe, understand and explore biodiversity for human wellbeing and the future of our planet.

Collection We have already been doing this day in, day out for hundreds of years. We collect, conserve and study animals, plants and rocks. Our collection now contains 37 million objects and that makes it one of the largest in the world. And it is still growing each day thanks to the worldwide fieldwork of our researchers and many amateur scientists. Research Using the collection, our researchers can carry out groundbreaking work. They do that on-site throughout the world and in our laboratories in Leiden. Thanks to their research, our understanding of how nature works and how we can use it is increasing. Education We pass on our knowledge and expertise to tomorrow's researchers. We do that by giving lectures at, and doing joint research projects with, the University of Amsterdam, Leiden University and Wageningen University. Museum In our museum young and old are awed by life on earth. By looking and, most important, doing. A visit to Naturalis gives a unique glimpse into the world of biodiversity!