Visitors will get a better view of microscopic images and weapons at two Oxford University museums which have each won a £100,000 funding boost.

The Pitt Rivers Museum and The Museum of the History of Science are among seven museums in the South East receiving a share of a £670,000 Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) fund.

The grants are awarded through the MLA's Designation Challenge Fund to ensure that outstanding collections can be seen by as many people as possible.

The Museum of the History of Science, in Broad Street, has won £99,904 for a project to transform its collection of microscopic slides into artworks for an exhibition called Small Worlds.

The project will involve cataloguing and researching the museum's internationally important collection of historic microscopes and slides and running education programmes for secondary schools in Oxfordshire.

Dr Stephen Johnston, assistant keeper, said: "This funding is vital for delivering exhibitions that are fresh and different.

"These microscopic images are often incredibly beautiful. This exhibition will enable people to see through these historical microscopes and get a sense that modern science depends on revealing these small worlds."

Pitt Rivers Museum in South Parks Road has won £98,571 for a project called Cutting Edge, to present its collection of weapons in an innovative way. The exhibits, which include a Japanese Samurai armour set and a riot shield donated by Thames Valley Police, will be on show from October until March 2008.

They will be displayed alongside updated research and interpretation in the museum's upper floor, which is undergoing a £7m extension and renovation due to be completed next year.

Museum director Michael O'Hanlon said: "The Pitt River Museum's arms and armour collections are outstanding. This further handsome grant from the Designation Challenge Fund will make knowledge about these wonderful collections even more accessible for the increasing number of visitors expected following the opening of the new extension in 2007."

Chris Batt, chief executive of the MLA, said: "Our role is to encourage museums to exploit fully the possibilities for these collections, exploring innovative ways to reach audiences whether in the local community or beyond."