Extensive coo peration between a number of institutions resulted in an international symposium - Research and Museums (RAM) - held in the premises of the Royal Swedish Academy of Science in Stockholm from 22-25 May 2007. The principal organisers were the Nationalmuseum and the Nobel Museum, with the support of the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities. The symposium, which had an international and interdisciplinary focus, dealt with issues relating to the research activities of museums of scientific history, natural history, fine arts and cultural history.

A total of 15 speakers from Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the UK, the USA and Sweden lectured on the significance of museum collections for research at both museums and university departments. The watchword of the symposium was that research engenders exhibitions which in their turn engender new research. Their contributions, written in English, have been collected in this volume of proceedings published as part of the scholarly series issued by the Nationalmuseum and the Nobel Museum.