About the Museum
The mission of the Museum of Evolution of the Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, is to provide accessible outreach and education aimed at broadening popular knowledge on the evolution of life on Earth.
In addition to its permanent and temporary exhibitions, the Museum offers a range of museum classes, as well as training sessions for teachers, that cover key themes in modern evolutionary biology, such as the origin and evolution of humans, the conquest of land by vertebrates and the extinction of the dinosaurs. Other available topics include the evolution of ecosystems on land, the major findings of Polish-Mongolian expeditions to the Gobi Desert and types of fossils.
The Museum also organises educational-artistic workshops and dinosaur-themed birthday parties for children. The Museum shop offers a selection of dinosaur plush toys, as well as books and other publications focussing on paleontology and natural sciences.
Our aim is to go beyond the Museum’s primary role of showcasing its natural history exhibits and collections and make it an important space for both scientific and more general discussions on the history of nature.
In 2011, the Museum hosted a symposium on the origins of life on Earth, during which Polands’ leading scientists gave lectures covering this subject from the perspectives of paleontology, molecular biology, biochemistry and physics. In the autumn of 2012, the Museum hosted a series of public debates, during which PhD students from the University of Warsaw and the Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, discussed evolution in the modern world and the nature of mass extinctions. The Museum is also a place in which nature lovers of all ages can buy some of the best available books on biology and nature.
Currently, ongoing work on a new, permanent exhibition showcasing evolution in oceans is taking place in the Museum. This new exhibition replaced a previous exhibition on natural killers curated by the Institute and Museum of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences. Because of limited funds, the development of the new exhibition will take a few years to complete. However, several new exhibits are already available for viewing by the public.
We apologise for the difficulties caused by the construction of the new exhibition, but we would also like to assure all our guests that the ongoing works will not cause disruption for the continued functioning of the Museum.
Translated by Andrzej Wolniewicz