With its large windows facing the street, LiveScience functions as a shop window for Naturalis. This place is where you will meet our researchers and collection managers, so that you can see and experience what their work is all about.
Experienceour research
Things you can do here include attempting to draw an insect according to scientific rules or witnessing a specimen preparation from up close. The pieces in the collection reflect our institute's rich history from its foundation in 1820 to the present day. They include a hoodwinker sunfish discovered in 1889 and a meteorite that struck the Netherlands only recently.
The ideabehind Live Science
This gallery is where we show what we do as a research institute. Not in the shape of an exhibition, but by letting you observe the people who work for Naturalis while they perform their duties. Feel free to ask questions, for example about what they are looking to discover and why. You can't get closer to nature and science than in Live Science!
The highlightof LiveScience
The highlight is that you get to meet our scientists in the flesh. One place where you can do so is in the Dino Lab, where they dig recently discovered dinosaur bones out of rocks. Obviously, it can be a noisy and dusty place – so they are more than happy to take a break and tell you everything you want to know. The Nature Desk in LiveScience is another place where you can meet our researchers. This location is home to our regular Nature Consultation, where people can ask questions about nature to an expert.
Activitiesin LiveScience
There's always a lot going on in LiveScience. Check our agenda for all activities.
Preparations of animals and plants
How do you prepare an animal or plant to go into the collection for eternity? Watch it live!
Spotlight on our experts
During the Spotlights of Naturalis, our experts share the latest knowledge, they show real collection pieces and talk passionately about their work in the museum.
Alsoin LiveScience
Butterflies come to life
Since 2024, LiveScience has an interactive artwork: Origins of Imagination, made by the British multimedia artist Dominic Harris. Visitors can use the artwork to scan a butterfly drawing that they coloured themselves, and then see how AI transforms it into a realistic, moving butterfly. The butterflies move together in a swarms on the large and responsive screen.
