SYNTHESYS is a European Union-funded Integrated Activities grant which aims to create an accessible, integrated European resource for researchers in the Natural Sciences.

Since the 1980s, museums and other public-sector institutions, where performance cannot be measured simply by profit, have developed performance indicators (PIs) for use by museum managers, funding bodies and regulators to demonstrate accountability, efficiencyand effectiveness

The SYNTHESYS Performance Indicators (PIs) have been assigned to four categories, relating to:

1. long term trends in collections

2. distinct collections management activities

3. the level to which activities are performed

4. the efficiency with which activities are performed.

A total of 68 indicators are suggested.