Museum life

The group of students and staff standing outside the Centre for Material Culture holding a large illustrated drawing of the Fitzwilliam Museum.

Supporting young people with SEND to discover museum jobs

by and | 09.12.25

Earlier this year, the University of Cambridge Museums (UCM) piloted a new programme of work experience for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Our current programme for young people with SEND offers a broad range of creative opportunities, but it has lacked progression for older participants, especially those transitioning into adulthood and employment. Looking to address these… Read full article

Museum Assistant Director Jack Ashby leans over a balcony to look at the fin whale hanging from the ceiling of the Museum, whilst holding his phone.

Exploring AI at the Museum of Zoology

by | 06.11.25

For the last year, the Museum of Zoology has invited the public to chat to museum animals in an innovative AI experiment. What has the Museum learnt? Since October 2024, visitors have been able to ‘chat’ with 13 specimens in the Museum of Zoology, from the dodo and the fin whale to a cockroach or a butterfly. You simply scan… Read full article

Celebrating Equiano’s Cambridge connections

by | 29.10.25

This Black History Month blog shares our recent work to explore and celebrate the Cambridge connections of Olaudah Equiano, Britain’s most important Black Abolitionist. Within his 52-year lifespan, the time that Olaudah Equiano spent in Cambridgeshire might appear insignificant. His documented associations lasted less than seven years from summer 1789 until spring 1796. And yet the people whom Equiano met… Read full article