The Board of The Icelandic Research Fund has completed the allocation of grants for new research projects for 2022, the largest in the fund's history. A total of 355 valid applications were received by the Research Fund, 82 of which were funded, or just over 23%.
The Icelandic Research Fund is the leading competitive research fund in Iceland. The fund grants projects in all areas of science, from grants to doctoral students to excellence grants. Grants of excellence are awarded for major projects that excel in their field and have an international connection. Last year, the fund had ISK 3.7 billion; this year, the financial contributions to the fund were increased up to 3.8 billion.
The number of new projects is the same as last year, when it was the largest from the fund's beginning, or 82; but the total amount of allocations this year have never been higher. Grants for new projects amount to ISK 1.4 billion this year, but since the projects are generally for three years, the total cost exceeds ISK 4 billion in the years 2022-2024. In addition to grants for new projects, around ISK 2.3 billion will be paid to projects of previous allocations. The Research Fund will also support the participation of Icelandic parties in internationally funded projects.
Below is an overview of the breakdown between types of grants. Further analysis is found on the Research Fund's website. Amounts may change as a result of contract negotiations and information published may include typos.
A total of 30 applications for excellence grants were received and 6 were funded, or 20%.
| Principal investigator(s) | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Sunna Kristín Símonardóttir, Guðbjörg Andrea Jónsdóttir, Ari Klængur Jónsson, Ásdís Aðalbjörg Arnalds | University of Iceland, School of Social Sciences | Fertility intentions and behaviour in Iceland: The role of policies and parenting culture |
45.685 |
| Viggó Þór Marteinsson | MATÍS | IceGut: Icelandic Diet and the Infant Gut Microbiome Development |
49.991 |
| Eniko Bali, Halldór Geirsson, Sæmundur Ari Halldórsson | University of Iceland, Science Institute | Magma dynamics of the Reykjanes Peninsula - Integrated Geochemical and Geophysical Investigation of the 2021 Fagradalsfjall eruption |
42.149 |
| Vilmundur G. Guðnason | Icelandic Heart Association | Risk assessment of Plaque Vulnerability | 45.115 |
| Steinunn Kristjánsdóttir, James G. Clark | University of Iceland, School of Humanities | Between man and nature: The Making of Benedictine Communities in Medieval Iceland |
49.452 |
| Lárus Thorlacius, Valentina Giangreco M. Puletti, Friðrik Freyr Gautason, Zhao-He Watse Sybesma | University of Iceland, Science Institute | Quantum Fields and Quantum Geometry |
48.547 |
A total of 171 applications for project grants were received and 43 were funded, or 25%.
Physical Sciences and Mathematics (19%)
| Principal investigator(s) | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Elisa Johanna Piispa | Science Institute-University of Iceland | Earth's magnetic field strength during ~13 Ma reversal event from Icelandic lava flows | 13.871 |
| Krishna Kumar Damodaran | Science Institute-University of Iceland | Enantioselective synthesis of metal-organic materials in supramolecular gels | 22.425 |
|
Sigurður Freyr Hafstein |
Science Institute-University of Iceland | Linear Programming as an Alternative to LMIs for Stability Analysis of Switched Systems | 15.912 |
| Snorri Þorgeir Ingvarsson | Science Institute-University of Iceland | Strained magnetism | 18.947 |
| Steffen Mischke | Science Institute-University of Iceland | Anthropogenic impacts on lakes in Iceland | 17.603 |
| Þorvaldur Þórðarson | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Explosivity, Shallow Conduit Magma Ascent Rates, Shallow Conduit Evolution and Explosivity in Basaltic Eruptions | 11.758 |
Engineering and technical science (30%)
| Principal investigator(s) | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Ármann Gylfason | Reykjavik University-Department of Engineering | Wind Power Installation in Harsh Environments; an Experimental Study | 20.820 |
| Benedikt Halldórsson | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | The Comprehensive Quantification of Earthquake Site-effects in Iceland and their Incorporation and Influence on a New Short-term Seismic Hazard Assessment | 20.505 |
| Guðrún Arnbjörg Sævarsdóttir | Reykjavik University-Department of Engineering | Adaptation of aluminum reduction cells to CCS | 21.208 |
| Halldór Pálsson | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Towards High-Fidelity Modeling of Turbulent Gas-Liquid Flows in Geothermal Systems | 17.012 |
| María Óskarsdóttir | Reykjavik University-Department of Computer Science | Influence in Multilayer Dynamic Networks | 17.957 |
| Tarmo Uustalu | Reykjavik University-Department of Computer Science | Computational effects and high-level control | 21.250 |
Natural and environmental sciences (25%)
| Principal investigator(s) | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Guðbjörg Ásta Ólafsdóttir | University of Iceland's Institute of Research Centres | Intrinsic and extrinsic determinants at the onset of Atlantic cod migration | 21.250 |
| Guðrún Gísladóttir | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Peatlands under pressure - The rare interplay of andic and histic soil properties and their implications for carbon dynamics of organic soils | 21.890 |
| Jose Augusto Belchior Alves | University of Iceland's Institute of Research Centres | Global Wader: tracking biodiversity responses to environmental change to promote conservation of trans-hemispheric connectors | 20.510 |
| Jukka Heinonen, Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Developing a Sustainable Consumption Corridor for Icelandic Society using a sectoral approach | 16.802 |
| Julian Mariano Burgos | Marine and Freshwater Research Institute | Maerl beds in the Arctic: distribution and ecology in Icelandic waters | 18.763 |
| Skúli Skúlason | Hólar University | Determinants of spatio-temporal variability of life-history traits in small populations | 21.266 |
| Stefán Steingrímsson | Hólar University | Territoriality, foraging and social organisation in stream salmonids: Repeatability and plasticity | 18.009 |
| Tómas Gunnarsson | University of Iceland's Institute of Research Centres | Effects of land-use and climate variation on wader nest success | 20.746 |
Life sciences (33%)
| Principal investigator(s) | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Berglind Ósk Einarsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Immunogenicity of MITF-low melanomas | 19.870 |
| Björn Aðalsteinsson | MATIS | CAZyme-X - Discovery and characterization of novel Carbohydrate active enzymes | 21.250 |
| Elvar Örn Viktorsson | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Development of new antimycobacterial phenazines into preclinical candidates | 18.337 |
| Guðrún Valdimarsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Tracking trophoblasts in human placental development and preeclampsia | 19.953 |
| Margrét Helga Ögmundsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | An isoform specific role of the autophagy gene ATG7 in cancer | 22.290 |
| Stefán Sigurðsson | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | The role of MITF in the preservation of genome integrity | 21.235 |
| Vilhjálmur Svansson, Sigríður Jónsdóttir, Sigurbjörg Þorsteinsdóttir | The Institute for Experimental Pathology, University of Iceland, KELDUR | Preventive and curative immunotherapy against equine insect bite hypersensitivity | 18.200 |
Clinical studies and public health (19%)
| Principal investigator(s) | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Berglind Aðalsteinsdóttir, Davíð O. Arnar, Gunnar Þór Gunnarsson | Landspitali University Hospital | The Icelandic Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Project: A recall-by-genotype study on MYBPC3 founder mutation carriers | 18.235 |
| Emily A. Holmes, Andri Steinþór Björnsson | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | The Lóa project: Scientific innovation for women after trauma by remotely delivering a a novel and brief intervention targeting intrusive memories | 19.866 |
| Sigurður Yngvi Kristinsson | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Screening for Waldenström macroglobulinemia and its precursors in a nationwide randomized clinical trial | 20.417 |
| Yvonne Höller | University of Akureyri | Environmental, physiological, and cognitive risk factors for seasonal affective disorder. | 22.954 |
Social and Educational Sciences (25%)
| Principal investigator(s) | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Árni Gunnar Ásgeirsson, Árni Kristjánsson | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Probabilistic attentional selection in vision | 20.820 |
| Giti Chandra | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Toward Decolonisation in Nordic Higher Education: A Participatory Action Research on curricula at the University of Iceland | 17.773 |
| Hanna Ragnarsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Education | Language policies and practices of diverse immigrant families in Iceland and their implications for education | 20.007 |
| Heiða María Sigurðardóttir | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Mapping and tracking visual object representations: Individual abilities and disabilities | 21.060 |
| Heiðdís Valdimarsdóttir, Sigríður Björk Þormar | Reykjavík University-Department of Psychology | The mental health effect of COVID-19 on Icelandic emergency responders | 18.673 |
| Ólafur Rastrick | University of Iceland-School of Social Sciences | Heritage attachment in the urban terrain: Everyday encounters with places of the past | 18.635 |
| Rannveig Sigríður Sigurvinsdóttir, Bryndís Björk Ásgeirsdóttir | Reykjavík University-Department of Psychology | Effectiveness of a virtual reality courtroom to support sexual violence survivors | 20.600 |
| Tinna Laufey Ásgeirsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Social Sciences | Living Life with Cerebral Palsy | 16.748 |
Humanities and the Arts (31%)
| Principal investigator(s) | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Beeke Stegmann | The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies | Life of Paper: Cycles of Production, Use and Reuse of 17th-Century Paper in Iceland | 16.037 |
| Egill Erlendsson | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | The rise and fall of transhumance in Iceland 800-1800 | 21.370 |
| James Peter Norton, Finnur Ulf Dellsén | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Understanding Philosophical Progress | 23.005 |
| Sofiya Zahova | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | RomIs: A history and ethnography of Roma in Iceland | 21.437 |
A total of 51 applications for Postdoctoral fellowships were received and 10 were funded, or around 20%.
Physical Sciences and Mathematics (25%)
| Principal investigator(s) | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Amrita Goswami | Science Institute-University of Iceland | Modeling of transport and crystal nucleation in aqueous ionic solutions under shear | 11.550 |
| Shane Mark Rooyakkers | Science Institute-University of Iceland | From unrest to eruption: Linking petrology and geophysics for a holistic view of magma system dynamics | 12.000 |
Engineering and technical science (40%)
| Principal investigator(s) | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Joseph Lovecchio | Reykjavik University-Department of Engineering | Development of a quantitative virtual profile based on X-ray microCT-validated metabolomics numerical distribution for an advanced monitoring of 3D in vitro bone extracellular matrix mineralization | 11.962 |
| Valentina Castiglioni | Reykjavik University-Department of Computer Science | Programs in the wild: Uncertainties, adaptability and verification | 11.765 |
Natural and environmental sciences (20%)
| Principal investigator(s) | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Hildur Magnúsdóttir | The Institute for Experimental Pathology, University of Iceland, KELDUR | Evolution and ecological interactions of subtidal gastropods and their parasites | 11.990 |
Life sciences (20%)
| Principal investigator(s) | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Csaba Horváth | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Sex-specific inflammatory and cell-death related mechanisms in the infarcted myocardium | 12.000 |
Social and Educational Sciences (17%)
| Principal investigator(s) | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Arnar Már Búason | University of Iceland-School of Social Sciences | The value of mental health | 12.000 |
| Hildur Fjóla Antonsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Mis/Recognising Sexual Violence in Civil Cases: Ideological Frameworks, Institutional Procedures, and Civil Standards of Proof | 11.990 |
Humanities and the Arts (13%)
| Principal investigator(s) | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Ásgeir Berg Matthíasson | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | A Socio-Pragmatic Account of Mathematical Truth: A Wittgensteinian Approach | 12.000 |
| Yelena Sesselja Helgadóttir Yershova | The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies | Variation, Textuality and Methodology for Producing a Representative Selection of Texts: The Case of Post-Medieval Icelandic þulur | 11.862 |
A total of 103 application for Doctoral fellowships were received and 23 were funded, or around 22%.
Physical Sciences and Mathematics (18%)
| Principal investigator(s) | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Hadi Rezaie Heris | Reykjavík University-Department of Applied Engineering | Geometry effect on phonon drag in core-shell nanowires | 7.636 |
| Nína Aradóttir | Science Institute-University of Iceland | Morphology and internal architecture of glacial bedforms in NE-Iceland: Evidence for palaeo-ice streaming | 7.995 |
Engineering and technical science (26%)
| Principal investigator(s) | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Albert Alonso Villar | Reykjavík University-Department of Applied Engineering | A transition towards a 100% electric HDV fleet in Iceland: Feasibility and impact assessment of the charging load on the transmission and distribution system | 6.180 |
| Helga Svala Sigurðardóttir | Reykjavik University-Department of Computer Science | Learning Classifier Systems for Text Normalization | 7.791 |
| Jinchao Wang | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Nanoporous transition metal sulfides as catalyst for electroreduction of nitrogen to ammonia under ambient conditions | 7.995 |
| Leonard Matthias Eberding | Reykjavik University-Department of Computer Science | Self-inquiring artificial intelligence | 7.791 |
| Steinþór Steingrímsson | Reykjavik University-Department of Computer Science | Compiling Effective Training Data for Low-Resource Machine Translation | 7.791 |
Natural and environmental sciences (30%)
| Principal investigator(s) | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Alessandra Barbara Deborah Schnider | Hólar University | Phenotypic plasticity in Lake Mývatn threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) | 8.000 |
| Marion Dellinger | Hólar University | Eco-Evo-Devo patterns of spatial cognition and personality in sympatric morphs of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) | 7.714 |
| Rosanne Beukeboom | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | The correlation of personality scores between laboratory and semi-wild experiments, and its influence on movement and survival of Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) | 7.714 |
Life sciences (17%)
| Principal investigator(s) | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Karen Kristjánsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Epitranscriptomic regulation of DNA repair genes | 7.999 |
Clinical studies and public health (13%)
| Principal investigator(s) | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Kolfinna Þórisdóttir | Reykjavik University-Department of Engineering | Novel diagnostic metrics for obstructive sleep apnea to better predict vascular and neurological diseases | 7.785 |
Social and Educational Sciences (23%)
| Principal investigator(s) | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Barbara Olga Horyn | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Tourist safety in polar regions: guide's competence and emergency preparedness in Arctic communities | 7.995 |
| Edita Tverijonaite | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Nature-based tourism in renewable energy landscapes | 3.331 |
| Gréta Bergrún Jóhannesdóttir | University of Akureyri | Social context and social control: young women in Icelandic fishing villages | 7.925 |
| Heiður Hrund Jónsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Social Sciences | Self-concept and school attitudes in relation to student engagement and dropping out: A longitudinal study among upper secondary school students | 7.995 |
| Ingi B. Poulsen | Reykjavik University-Department of Law | Climate Litigation – Shaping corporate response to climate change in the courtroom | 7.756 |
| Ingibjörg Jónsdóttir Kolka | University of Iceland-School of Education | How can education change people's life narratives? | 7.995 |
| Vittorio Orlando | University of Iceland-School of Social Sciences | Brexit: A Case Study in Post-Truth Politics and European Disintegration | 7.995 |
Humanities and the Arts (21%)
| Principal investigator(s) | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Anthony John Smith | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Phenomenological empathy in psychiatric nursing: mapping developments of empathy in the care of patients with schizophrenia | 7.044 |
| Kolbrún Lilja Kolbeinsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | "Can a Happy Life be a Certainty?": A Study of the dichotomy of happiness and suffering as perceived by men and women in Ancient Mesopotamia | 7.999 |
| Lea Debora Pokorny | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Bookmaking in late-fourteenth-century Iceland. A codicological study on the production of manuscripts in the European context. | 7.995 |
| Sylvía Marsibil Bates | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Net-works: The Invention of the Pelagic Trawl | 7.950 |
The information published may include typos.
Amounts may change as a result of contract negotiations.
