A panel of judges has been announced for next year’s Art Fund Prize for Museums and Galleries, now rebranded Museum of the Year.

Applications for the award, which was created in 2001 to recognise originality and excellence in UK museums and galleries, will open 2 January and will be whittled down to 10 finalists of which a winner will be decided and granted £100,000.

The competition is this time open to any accredited museum or gallery, where previously only those with a new project or development from the previous 12 months were eligible.

From the finalists a £10,000 prize will be granted to the Clore Award, which recognises achievements in learning programmes in museums.

Chaired by Art Fund director Stephen Deuchar, this year’s panel includes Daily Telegraph art editor Sarah Crompton, writer and broadcaster Bettany Hughes, historian Tristram Hunt MP and artist Bob and Roberta Smith.

Last year’s winner was the Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum for its £24m transformation and in 2011 the British Museum won for a project which told a history of the world through individual objects.