The CIVIS Museum University Forum (MUF) Doctoral Network

Context

Our mission is to strengthen emerging collaborations between universities and museums across the CIVIS Alliance and to build a sustainable structure that supports current and future doctoral researchers within the MUF network. We aim to make better use of the opportunities that already exist within CIVIS while creating new spaces for exchange, research, and cooperation. The CIVIS Museum University Forum (MUF) is a collaborative platform that brings together curators, custodians, scholars, museum educators, and civil society actors across Europe and Africa. Rooted in the shared missions of museums and universities as institutions of knowledge production, critical reflection, and public engagement, MUF fosters meaningful dialogue and innovative partnerships.

As a pilot initiative within the CIVIS Alliance, MUF explores new models of collaboration between academic and museum sectors. In 2026, co-tutelle agreements between CIVIS universities are being signed, laying the foundation for a structured MUF Doctoral Network across the Alliance. As the current Board of PhD students, we are actively engaged in shaping a sustainable and collaborative framework for this emerging network.

Practical informations

Are you a PhD student at a CIVIS member university or its African Partner working on museum-, heritage-, collections- or memory-related research?

The CIVIS Museum University Forum (MUF) Doctoral Network warmly invites you to join our upcoming online Spring Meeting:

• • 📅 17-19 March 2026
  • 🕒 17 March: 14:00–17:00 CET
  • 🕒 18-19 March: 9:00–12:00 CET
  • 📍 Online

This is not a traditional conference. It is a collaborative space designed for peer exchange, methodological discussion and shaping a transnational doctoral network across the CIVIS Alliance.

Over three focused sessions, we will: 

• Exchange research ideas and challenges
• Offer peer feedback in a low-pressure format
• Discuss methodologies and work-in-progress
• Reflect on how the Doctoral Network can best support our research
• Explore future formats (colloquia, writing sessions, thematic groups)

Whether you are at the beginning of your PhD or in the final writing phase, this is an opportunity to connect across universities and disciplines within the CIVIS framework.

If you are interested, register HERE

If you would like to be included in the program with your presentation, please fill in the form before 11 March 2026.

 Read more about MUF on CIVIS's webpage HERE