Exhibitions
To complement the permanent displays, the Sedgwick Museum curates temporary exhibitions. These include collaborations with researchers and artists and also reflect relevant news stories, events and anniversaries.
Current Exhibitions
From Magma to Magnets
Free, drop-in
Discover the work of Earth scientists studying ancient magma chambers in Greenland, in this new display.
How do rare earth element-rich minerals form? What makes some minerals 'critical' and not others? Why are they in the news so often? Discover the work of a small team of Earth Scientists at the University of Cambridge, who study minerals that formed in magma chambers millions of years ago in Greenland. The minerals contain ‘rare earth elements’, which due to their use in powerful magnets are crucial to high-tech industries and the global transition to green energy.
Feel the powerful force of a rare earth magnet yourself, make critical minerals glow and sparkle under UV light, and delve into the awe-inspiring process of how the minerals formed.
Breaking New Ground: Celebrating Past, Present and Future Women Earth Scientists at the University of Cambridge
Free, drop-in
Join us in celebrating women Earth scientists in this temporary display, co-curated by two Earth Sciences students.
How many women Earth scientists can you name? With a focus on the University of Cambridge, Breaking New Ground is a celebration of women in Earth Sciences.
The display includes trailblazing, but historically overlooked early Earth scientists, perspectives from women who are currently researching, teaching, working or studying in the university's Department of Earth Sciences, and two local young people who share their passion for Geology.
Other Current Exhibitions
- A historian surrounded by rocks: a University of Essex work placement by Sam Robertson (Opened May 2024)
- Collecting Carboniferous plants from Graissessac in Southern France: a community cabinet by Sacha Ottevanger (Opened April 2024)
- So you want to be a palaeontologist?: a pop-up museum display (Opened September 2023)
- Everest at 70: A rock from the roof of the world (Opened May 2023)
- UCM Y10 Work Experience: Students from Coleridge Community College and North Cambridge Academy (Opened July 2023)
Online Exhibitions
- Two Islands: Changing landscapes across time
- We Need More Teeth: Tyrannosaurus rex at the Sedgwick Museum
- Lockdown creativity: Recreating an iconic scene of Jurassic sea life
- Being Seen and Heard: Women in the Sedgwick Museum Archive
Dawn of the Wonderchicken: Discovering the world's oldest modern bird fossil
Read about our previous exhibitions here