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Organization

NEMO Science Museum

At NEMO Science Museum, everyone – from young to old – discovers how fascinating science and technology are. On five floors crammed full of exhibitions, experiments, demonstrations and workshops, visitors discover how special everyday things are.

Learning at NEMO

NEMO’s visitors learn about the basic principles of science and technology. About phenomena such as electricity, light, sound and gravity. They learn by doing, by experiencing and by using all their senses. We invite our visitors to discover and explore who they are, and the world around them. To ask questions and to stop and think. That’s learning the NEMO way.

Maartje Raijmakers

NEMO professor Maartje Raijmakers

Prof. dr. Maartje Raijmakers of the University of Amsterdam is affiliated with NEMO Science Museum. Her research focuses on informal learning outside the classroom. This endowed professor conducts much of her research at NEMO. 

“I am exploring ways to encourage people to learn more about the world around them, motivated simply by their own enthusiasm.”

NEMO Professor dr. Maartje Raijmakers

NEMO as an experimental workshop

NEMO Research & Development is a research location for scientific learning, located within NEMO. NEMO’s employees work with visitors to test new exhibition concepts, for example. Researchers from the University of Amsterdam and other universities carry out research on topics such as ‘How do parents interact with their children in exhibitions?’ or ‘How children think about phenomena like shadows or electricity.’. By participating in research, our visitors help make NEMO even better: more fun, more surprising and more instructive.

NEMO and science

In collaboration with other knowledge institutes, scientific and technological knowledge is made accessible to a broad audience in a variety of ways. Visitors can repeat centuries-old research and they can also participate as test subjects in cutting-edge scientific research. Also, they can come into contact with scientists. Science Live and NEMO Research & Development (in which Prof. Maartje Raijmakers is involved) are just two of the research programmes that offer such opportunities.

“People can’t wait to be a part of your research! At NEMO, science is alive and kicking.”

Marco Rozendaal, TU Delft

The public as a research population

Science Live enables scientists to carry out their own research in NEMO, which brings them into contact with a broad section of society. NEMO visitors can sign up to be a test subject in a research study. The diversity of our visitors reflects the general population and makes them a very valuable resource for scientists. The research takes place in an attractive space furnished specifically for this purpose. 

Interactive lectures

At NEMO, we like to bring scientists into direct contact with our visitors, during interactive lectures for example. For 10 years, scientists have been answering children’s questions during our series of Children’s Lectures. For adults there are lectures at NEMO Science Museum, in Paradiso (concert hall, club and cultural centre) and in the Kenniscafé at the Balie (centre for the freedom of speech, contemporary art, politics, culture, cinema and media). These are organized together with NEMO Kennislink and other partners.

NEMO and technology

Ninety-five per cent of the environment we live in consists of technology. Technological developments are constantly changing society. This has an effect on everyone.

The new generation

New technology is vitally important if we are to meet the challenges of the 21st century. This requires that a young generation be introduced to technology as early on as possible. NEMO is happy to make that meeting possible by staging activities in which children work together on an idea or a solution. By devising their own solution to a problem and by implementing and testing their design, children are continually expanding their knowledge.

Inspiring education in technology

At NEMO, we feel that schools should place more emphasis on science and technology, which will activate kids to learn by using real-life materials in a hands-on setting. Hands-on activities are a key ingredient for engaging and inspiring education. This approach also enables children to discover and further develop their own talents in the field of science and technology. NEMO supports schools throughout the Netherlands by providing educational programmes and teacher training courses. These include the Engineer programme.

Historical collection

This collection, which contains no fewer than 19,500 artefacts, tells the story of humankind’s relationship with energy in its broadest sense. From parlograph to Walkman, from arc light to lamppost, from impulse generator to antique dynamo. Read more about the collection.

A spectacular building

At NEMO, encouraging people to discover things for themselves is of paramount importance. You can see that the spirit of self-discovery that defines NEMO is even reflected in the building that has been its home since 1997. It has a striking exterior, with its copper-green silhouette recognizable from afar, while its interior minimizes distraction from the exhibitions and the discoveries that visitors make inside. And that is exactly how the Italian architect Renzo Piano envisioned it. Read more about the building.

The Studio

The NEMO Science Museum’s Studio is an off-site location at the Marineterrein (in Amsterdam). Here, it presents a variety of programmes for adult audiences. This location is a laboratory where NEMO cooperates with partners and the public to devise new, low-threshold and interactive exhibitions and programmes related to socially relevant topics. Read more about The Studio.

Awards for NEMO

NEMO has been voted the most welcoming national museum in the Netherlands. This was the result of the Culture Sector Brands Survey carried out by Hendrik Beerda Brand Consultancy in March 2016. NEMO’s staff are seen to be the friendliest. NEMO also comes out on top for child-friendliness and value for money.

In November 2014, NEMO was named one of the world’s eleven most awesome museums for children by the popular American magazine and website Mental Floss. 

Meanwhile museum inspectors have chosen NEMO as the most kidproof museum in the Netherlands. In 2014, NEMO was visited by a team of inspectors aged 12 or under and was awarded the highest average mark – 9 out of 10.

Ages, brand experience and appreciation

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NEMO is a strong cultural brand that, in comparison to other museums, attracts a younger audience on average (38% of visitors are under the age of 18). People experience NEMO’s brand as lively, accessible, creative and active. On average, visitors give a visit to NEMO a score of 8.6.

NEMO’s ever-changing activities, such as the workshops and shows, receive an average score of 8.3. People give NEMO such a high score because of its educational content, because it’s fun for children and because it offers an entertaining and relaxing experience. 

History

The history of NEMO is inseparable from the development of science and technology in the Netherlands and how society has viewed this process over the past 100 years. From a firm belief in progress, to reconstruction and industrialization, and on to the quest for sustainability and innovation. Read more about its history.

Networks

NEMO participates in various local, national and international networks in the fields of science, education, scientific communication and culture. With our network partners we work hard to continually develop initiatives that bring together a variety of individuals, groups and organizations involved in science and technology communication. 

National

International

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