Specimen Loan

Specimen Loan

As a public service and scientific institution, we highly encourage the use of our collections and individual specimens as much as possible. 

Thus, some of the immediate users of our specimens are researchers and scientists, both local and international, who may not be able to make visits for personal examinations due to some reasons. 

Hence, the museum accepts requests for loans and exchanges of specimens by specialists and other researchers which is needed in the conduct of taxonomic and taxonomy-related research.

It also sponsors its staff members’ loan requests to other museums in the Philippines or abroad.

Some of our guidelines are:

  • All transactions are done on an institution-to-institution basis; individual communications addressed to museum specialists must be channeled to and kept on file in the Office of the Director.
  • The request must state the group(s) desired and the purpose and approximate duration of the study for which the request is made.
  • Duration of loans varies with the sections, but a maximum of six (6) months is generally allowed for taxonomic study.
  • Part of undetermined material on loan may be retained but the borrower should have prior arrangement with the Museum. However, all holotypes and allotypes of new taxa founded upon such material must be returned and deposited with the museum.
  • Types are loaned out only in batches of a few specimens at a time. Loans by University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) students in systematics will be charged to their major professors.
  • Proper packaging, handling, and protection from pests and excessive moisture must be made for all borrowed material. Postal insurance is required for type specimens.
  • The UPLB Museum of Natural History must be acknowledged in all publications resulting in part or whole from the study of material loaned therefrom. At least five (5) reprints of the printed publications or a PDF file of the digital publication should be sent to the Museum Director.

For further inquiries on our specimen loan procedure, please contact:

Cristian C. Lucañas
University Researcher I and
Coordinator for Collections Management
[email protected]