The project undertaken will have set objectives to be completed during the one-month placement. The student will also be exposed to other facets of the cultural collections, through activities such as  attendance at meetings, workshops or spending the day with other museums and collections staff from across the university, including curators, collection managers, archivists and conservators in order to get a more comprehensive picture of what their work entails. This broadening experience will also enhance the student’s understanding of the different issues currently facing university collections.

The projects may include (or be a combination of):

• Conservation/preservation

• Significance assessment

• Documentation and cataloguing

• Research

• Interpretation

• Exhibition development

As well as the assigned project and associated tasks, the student may include in their placement a period of self-directed study that engages with an aspect of the host institution’s collections that is of particular interest to them. The student will need to include this area of interest on the application form and it will be negotiated with the host institution. For more information on the museums and collections at the University of Birmingham and the University of Melbourne’s see www.rcc.bham.ac.uk/index.shtml and www.unimelb.edu.au/culturalcollections/ . For details on the Universitas 21 (U21) network see www.universitas21.com