2024 UMAC Award Winner

2025 UMAC Award winner will be announced in Dubai in November 2025

The UMAC Award of Excellence honours excellence and innovation in university museums and collections and, most importantly, celebrates the impact of university museums and collections on their host universities (here understood as higher education institutions), their communities and contemporary society.

Through the annual Award, UMAC commends outstanding recent contributions to all areas of museum and collections theory and practice, particularly those with an interdisciplinary approach and the potential for worldwide application.

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2025 will open in April

Eligibility

Projects and initiatives eligible to the UMAC AWARD must be less than 3 years old at the time of the nomination. They may cover all areas of museums and collections theory and practice, including exhibition, education, conservation, teaching, research, management and business models, design and architecture, ethics, service to the university and the public, strategic planning, and advances in museology.

All university museums and collections are eligible regardless of their location, type or size. Nominees do not have to be UMAC members. However, they must be nominated by two UMAC members. On a nominee’s application, the two nominators cannot use the same institutional membership number. UMAC Board members are unable to act as nominators for any entries. 

Criteria

Projects or initiatives nominated must demonstrate:
i) innovation/creativity;
ii) excellence;
iii) transferability of ideas that can be adopted by other university museums and collections regardless of geography, size or location; and
iv) impact on the host university, the community or society at large.

Nominations must be submitted by two UMAC members in good standing. Nominators can nominate themselves. If you are thinking of making a nomination, please read the UMAC Award Rules.

Nominations for the UMAC Award 2025

Links will be live once the process opens this year

Application form can be accessed here in PDF or MS WORD formats:
* PDF Nomination Form
* WORD Nomination Form

Applications close COB Sunday xx 2025.

See examples of UMAC Award winners here:

Do you have questions about the UMAC Award?

Contact the Chair of the UMAC Award Committee: Akiko Fukuno