Museums can include historical homes, archaeological sites, and science centers, in addition to the grand marble palaces with art and natural-history collections typically conjured up by the term. For scholars who are eager to conduct research, the best-known opportunity to do this at a museum is through a curatorship. Such positions are filled in much the same way as academic appointments. Curators' responsibilities involve the research demands typical of a professorship, but with little or no teaching unless the institution has arranged a joint appointment with an affiliated college or university. Curators devote attention to the museum's collections in their particular field, and may play a significant role in cultivating donations from private collectors and arranging acquisitions.
Curators also provide content expertise in the design of public exhibitions and publications.
For Ph.D.'s who prefer teaching to research, a position in museum education or exhibit development may be the right fit. These jobs combine teaching skills and creativity with a solid, but more general, knowledge of a particular discipline. Museum educators organize performance and lecture series, develop and teach workshops, train and supervise volunteer docents, work with schoolteachers, and create online and print supplements for exhibits. The public sphere of museum education demands a high level of energy. The challenge is to build and sustain an audience, no small feat since museums are competing with all sorts of leisure options, such as sports, films, and live performances.