Research

Research is a valued activity at IWM and we are an Independent Research Organisation (IRO). Our curators actively engage with the academic community in new and challenging ways in order to deepen our understanding of war and its impact and to enrich our public outputs.

You can find out more about our research by visiting our Research blog, or to receive news of current research opportunities please sign up to our academic mailing list.

We also have research facilities to carry out your own research on IWM's collections.

IWM Research

IWM Institute

IWM Institute is a new hub to explore and experiment with new ways of deepening public understanding of war and conflict through research, public programming and digital innovation.

Woman holding up a document at a conference panel

Seminars and Conferences

IWM regularly hosts and contributes to seminars and conferences in collaboration with a range of academic and cultural institutions.

Collaborative Doctoral Awards

IWM supervises several Collaborative Doctoral Award students who are researching their PhDs through the AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award Scheme. We are currently seeking academic partners from UK Higher Education Institutions to co-supervise our 2018 studentships.

Research Projects

Find out more about current and past research projects led and supported by IWM.

Research Reports

IWM Research Reports review academic research over the past year.

Actor Gary Oldman visits Churchill War Rooms during promotion for his film Darkest Hour

Actor Gary Oldman visits Churchill War Rooms, researching his role in Darkest Hour

Curator Consultancy

IWM is a leading authority on conflict and its impact, focusing on Britain, its former Empire and the Commonwealth, from the First World War to the present. IWM’s curators are experts in their field and can provide reliable guidance and information for commercial projects such as feature films, documentaries and consumer products.

Research facilities

Collection Research Facilities

At Imperial War Museums, we aim to provide the widest possible access to our outstanding collection, be that printed material, documents, sound, film, photographs or works of art.

British soldiers and their families standing in front of a plane during the Berlin Blockade 1949

1st Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers arrive at RAF Gatow to relieve 1st Royal Norfolk Regiment in Berlin 1949 © IWM (BER 49-144-024)

Tracing your Family History

The extensive collections of the Imperial War Museums reflect people from all walks of life. This makes us a practical resource to help put the wartime experiences of your relatives into context. Our expert staff have put together these useful guides to help you start your research into your family history, explaining what records you will need and where to find them.

Collections online

Explore around 800,000 items that tell the story of modern war and conflict, collected by the museum since 1917.