Designation recognises the national and international importance of the collections.
It imposes obligations upon the Museum, to maintain of the collections under the best possible conditions and to make them accessible to the widest possible public. Five of the 62 designated museums nationwide are part of the University of Cambridge. As a Designated museum, the Museum of Zoology qualifies for grants under the Designation Challenge Fund, a three year programme aimed at improving the quality of care and level of access to outstanding national collections. To date, the Museum has been awarded funding to improve environmental monitoring of stores and galleries, to improve public access and to work on our cataloguing project.