museum scientist
Museum scientists perform and/or manage the curatorial, preparatory and clerical work in general museums, botanical gardens, art galleries, fine arts related collections, aquariums or similar areas. They manage the collections of natural, historical and anthropological material that is educational, scientific or aesthetic in purpose.
museum scientist museum scientists perform and/or manage the curatorial, preparatory and clerical work in general museums, botanical gardens, art galleries, fine arts related collections, aquariums or similar areas. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include art collections, collection management software, museum databases, museology, draft scientific or academic papers and technical documentation.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £34,237 a year for Archivists and curators (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 2472). ONS rates this estimate acceptable: it rests on a small sample, so treat it as a rough guide. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Professionals” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only museum scientist, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 2. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- History and Archeology
- English Language
- Customer and Personal Service
- Computers and Electronics
- Administration and Management
- Administrative
- Education and Training
- Law and Government
What you'd actually do
- Organize archival records and develop classification systems to facilitate access to archival materials.
- Provide reference services and assistance for users needing archival materials.
- Prepare archival records, such as document descriptions, to allow easy access to information.
- Create and maintain accessible, retrievable computer archives and databases, incorporating current advances in electronic information storage technology.
- Establish and administer policy guidelines concerning public access and use of materials.
- Direct activities of workers who assist in arranging, cataloguing, exhibiting, and maintaining collections of valuable materials.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does museum scientist do?
Museum scientists perform and/or manage the curatorial, preparatory and clerical work in general museums, botanical gardens, art galleries, fine arts related collections, aquariums or similar areas. They manage the collections of natural, historical and anthropological material that is educational, scientific or aesthetic in purpose.
What skills does museum scientist need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include art collections, collection management software, museum databases, museology, draft scientific or academic papers and technical documentation, manage research data. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace museum scientist?
Our AI-durability model gives museum scientist a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.