University's £3.3m cash boost for museum and collections

Ancient pottery and medieval literature are among the university's collections

A university will receive £3.3m towards its museum and its collection of historical works.

The University of Reading has been awarded the money over five years from the most recent higher education museums and galleries (HEMG) fund from Research England.

It is double what it was previously awarded from the fund and will support the university's Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) and its special collections.

The university said it would allow it to invest in "infrastructure that benefits the wider research community".

It hopes to enhance its digital systems that provide access to its collections online.

Among the university's archives is ancient pottery, medieval literature and the work of Irish novelist Samuel Beckett.

The HEMG fund allocates £14m per year to higher education institutions to help them to serve wider external research communities.

Previously, the funding has helped the MERL to support internal and external research projects.

This is the first time that funding has also been given towards the university's special collections.

Kate Arnold Forster, director of university museums and special collections services at Reading, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Research England for recognising the quality of the University of Reading’s museums and special collections and the services we deliver through this increased funding award.

“I would like to pay tribute to and thank my colleagues for the dedication, innovation and tireless work that this expectational level of funding recognises.”