Originally conceived as mere collections with academic teaching and research purposes, these structures have developed gradually since the nineteenth century especially after the establishment of the Franz Joseph University in 1872 - turning over time into real museums, with a tremendous scientific and documentary value. The exhibits held by the Botanical, Mineralogy, Zoology and Palaeontology museums offer eloquent examples of the quality that characterizes the scientific schools in Cluj, and at the same time manage to successfully illustrate their evolution and their development over time. Many of their exhibits are in fact part of the National Heritage. Some samples belonging to the Museums of Mineralogy, Palaeontology, Zoology and to the Botanical Museum originate since 1859, being collected and classified by the members of the Transylvanian Museum Society (Erdélyi Múzeum).

To these four older Museums was added since April 2001 the University Museum, a structure that reconstitutes through old objects, documents and photographs the historical evolution of the University - starting with the establishment of the Jesuit College in 1581 and to the Babes-Bolyai University today - , and since September 2001 Vivarium, an original unit that hosts 57 species of live animals (reptiles, small mammals, birds, fish).