Museum Beelden aan Zee is also home to the Sculptuur Instituut (Sculpture Institute). The Institute is comprised of a research library containing 13.000 volumes in addition to documentation related to the Museum’s sculpture collections. The library is open to the public. This initiative seeks to stimulate academic discourse regarding modern and contemporary sculpture.  

Five years ago, Leiden University and Sculptuur Instituut founded a professorship. This made it possible for masters and bachelors courses, as well as thesis tutoring, to be conducted alongside PhD research on sculpture. Two of the Institute's employees are currently working on PhD research. 

The Institute maintains two publication series: the first one, entitled Monografieën van het Sculptuur Instituut comprises of a series of catalogues raisonnés of Dutch Sculptors. The second series is the research yearbook Sculptuur Studies, which contains art historical texts. Another function of the Sculptuur Instituut is the facilitating of the exhibitions and collections management of the museum.