Research program

The doctoral candidates conduct research on site based on the museum stock related to their theme, which is the subject matter of both the PhD thesis and the exhibition concept. In individual work packages, the doctoral candidates go through all stations of the museum while simultaneously writing their thesis. In addition to scientific qualification, the aim is to become qualified as comprehensively as possible for the complex tasks of a museum—knowledge exemplarily gained based on a project of one’s own, from the initial reviewing of the material to the realization of an exhibition or exhibition model.

The work program related to the doctorate and the exhibition is divided into practice and research phases that are closely interlinked. Therefore, one workplace is made available in the museums for each of the six candidates for the entire period of time. In the practice phases, the doctoral candidates are to acquire competences in project planning and administration, museum management, public relations, and much more, in addition to the collection- and exhibition-related contents and their presentation. The stations are oriented toward the internship guidelines of the Deutsche Museumsbund and the International Council of Museums Deutschland (ICOM). In the research phases, which are integrated in the semi-structured doctoral study program of the Leuphana University Lüneburg, both doctoral colloquiums and advanced seminars on the history and theory of exhibiting, the history of collecting, and museum studies are held. Workshops with experts from the fields of exhibition conception and restoration, museum education, and exhibition architecture provide in-depth guidelines, discuss the projects and concepts, and facilitate further exchange between the museums and the university.