How is research carried out at the Nationalmuseum? What are its key concerns, and how is it funded? Answers to these and several other questions can be found in the Museum’s Research Policy.

Research at Nationalmuseum

• Is intended, in accordance with the Nationalmuseum’s mission, to promote art, interest in art and knowledge of art through scholarly study of the Museum’s own and other state-managed collections of fine and applied arts.
• Is conducted in project form within the Research Department and, as a rule, requires external funding. Research projects are discussed at seminars and by the Research Committee of the Museum and are accepted by a decision of the Executive Team.
• Aims to promote competence development in the Nationalmuseum’s areas of responsibility.
• Is undertaken in partnership with universities and other higher education establishments, other museums and research institutions, in Sweden and abroad.
• Makes scholarly findings available in various forms to the research community and the public at large.
• Follows the ethical guidelines of the Swedish Research Council.

Key areas of research

• Attribution issues and object-based research
• Provenance research and the history of collecting
• Reception history
• Art education
• Museology
• Materials and techniques and conservation science
• Aesthetic theory and method

Acceptance of research projects

• Proposals for research projects, with a written justification, are to be submitted to the Director of Research.
• Proposals for research projects are considered by the Museum’s Research Committee and accepted by a decision of the Executive Team.
• The leader of a project works under and reports regularly to the Director of Research.
• Research projects accepted at the Nationalmuseum are to be carried out and completed under the auspices of the Museum.

Quality assurance of research

• The quality of projects is assessed prior to acceptance and subsequently on a continuous basis as the work progresses.
• A Research Committee, with members drawn from within the museum and from university departments of art history, discusses individual projects, collaboration with universities and research strategy issues.
• In addition, collaboration between the Nationalmuseum and the art history departments of Stockholm University and Uppsala University is discussed in a separate forum, known as the Triad.
• Reference groups and/or external experts are appointed prior to the publication of research results.
• The publications staff of the Research Department organise, develop, and assure the quality of the Nationalmuseum’s book publishing activities.