The Board of The Icelandic Research Fund has completed the allocation of grants for new research projects for 2023. A total of 337 valid applications were received by the Research Fund, 74 of which were funded, or just over 22%.
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. This year, the financial contributions to the fund are ISK 3.7 billion.
The number of new projects is 74, Grants for new projects amounts to ISK 1.2 billion this year. Since the projects are generally for three years, the total cost exceeds ISK 3,4 billion in the years 2023-2025. In addition to grants for new projects, close to ISK 2.7 billion will be paid to projects of previous allocations.
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 20 applications for excellence grants were received and 4 were funded, or 20%.
| Principal Investigators | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Hanna Ragnarsdóttir, Magnús Þorkell Bernharðsson | University of Iceland-School of Education | A Part and Apart? Education and social inclusion of refugee children and youth in Iceland (ESRCI) | 47.127 |
| Paolo Gargiulo, Anna Sigríður Islind, María Kristín Jónsdóttir, Hannes Petersen | Háskólinn í Reykjavík - Verkfræðideild | Postural control signature: Advance assessment and diagnostic using the BioVRSea paradigm | 55.312 |
| Michelle Maree Parks, Freysteinn Sigmundsson | Icelandic Met Office | Effects of climate change induced Ice-retreat on Seismic and Volcanic activity | 57.134 |
| Kristinn Andersen, Ian F. Akyildiz | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | HAF: Underwater Robotics Sensor Networks with Multi-Mode Devices and Remote Power Charging Capabilities | 49.075 |
A total of 34 applications for project grants were received and 34 were funded, about 22%.
Physical Sciences and Mathematics (22%)
| Principal Investigators | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Helgi Sigurðsson | Science Institute-University of Iceland | Stórgerð víxlverkandi ljósvökvanet | 21.534 |
| Rosemary Philippa Cole | Science Institute-University of Iceland | Eldvirkni og goshættir á tímum umhverfisbreytinga í Kötlu og Eyjafjallajökli | 18.132 |
| Snorri Þór Sigurðsson | Science Institute-University of Iceland | Stöðugar lífrænar tvístakeindir til aukningar á kjarnaskautun | 21.110 |
| Ádám Dávid Timár, Sigurður Örn Stefánsson | Science Institute-University of Iceland | Slembinet í rúmi | 22.782 |
| Younes Abghoui | Science Institute-University of Iceland | Leit að nýjum efnahvötum fyrir sértæka rafafoxun CO2 í eldsneyti | 25.162 |
Engineering and technical science (21%)
| Principal Investigators | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Tómas Philip Rúnarsson | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Sjálfvirkt nám ákvörðunarlíkana | 18.945 |
| Björn Gunnarsson | University of Akureyri | Góð og sanngjörn staðsetning á þyrlum til sjúkraflutninga á Íslandi fundin út frá útköllum og íbúaþéttnitölum. | 19.206 |
| Björn Þór Jónsson | Reykjavik University-Department of Computer Science | Greining margmiðlunargagna með sýndarveruleikaskoðun á lýsigagnarými | 16.389 |
| Leifur Þór Leifsson | Reykjavik University-Department of Engineering | Sjálfvirk hönnun og ódýr bestun á lögun smárra breiðbandsloftneta | 21.966 |
| Guðrún Arnbjörg Sævarsdóttir | Reykjavik University-Department of Engineering | Loftslagsvænn kísill, framleiðsla kísils með rafgreiningu án losunar gróðurhúsalofttegunda | 18.785 |
| Halldór Guðfinnur Svavarsson | Háskólinn í Reykjavík - Iðn- og tæknifræðideild | Nýstárlegur nemi úr kísilörvírum til mælinga á andardrætti | 21.357 |
Natural and environmental sciences (19%)
| Principal Investigators | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| David Roger Ben Haim | Hólar University | Þróun persónuleika bleikju (Salvelinus alpinus) | 14.500 |
| Bettina Scholz; ,Bettina Scholz | BioPol | Per- og pólýflúoroalkýlefni hitta fyrir kísilþörunga kaldtempraða beltisins og tengdar samlífisverur: Uppsöfnunarleiðir og áhrif á hreysti og auðkenningu | 23.290 |
| Ester Rut Unnsteinsdóttir, Snæbjörn Pálsson, Nicolas Lecomte, Bruce James McAdam | The Icelandic Institute of Natural History | Stofngerð, stofnbreytingar og lífvænleiki hánorræns afræningja undir álagi af völdum veiða og umhverfisbreytinga. | 20.305 |
| Erpur Snær Hansen | Náttúrstofa Suðurlands | Samanburður á fæðuvistfræði, fæðu og útbreiðslu á sjó, milli tveggja sæsvölutegunda, annarri í mikilli stofnfækkun en hin með stöðugan stofnvöxt | 5.364 |
| Guðmundur Óli Hreggviðsson | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Fjölbreytieiki hitakærra veira í íslenskum hverum. Víð- og samerfðamengis rannsóknir. | 22.000 |
| Elín Soffía Ólafsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Lífhendni úsninsýru handhverfa í fléttum (ChiralLichen) | 18.208 |
Life sciences (23%)
| Principal Investigators | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Pétur Orri Heiðarsson | Science Institute-University of Iceland | Kortlagning sameindavirkni taugaumritunarþáttarins Ascl1 við litnisopnun -Í gegnum linsu einsameindatækni- | 23.520 |
| Pétur Snæbjörnsson, Sigurgeir Ólafsson | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Sómatískar stökkbreytingar í eðlilegri ristilþekju | 9.525 |
| Sabrina Hansmann-Roth | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Táknar efniseiginleika í sjónkerfinu | 25.388 |
| Eiríkur Steingrímsson | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Tengsl byggingar og hlutverks í óreiðusvæðum MITF | 20.540 |
| Jón Jóhannes Jónsson, Aristotelis Kotronoulas | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Þróun á örflæði LC-MS smásameinda skimunaraðferð fyrir klínískar rannsókni | 22.162 |
Clinical studies and public health (23%)
| Principal Investigators | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Inga Þórsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Næring ungbarna og astmi: Tengsl við líkamsþyngd og loftgæði | 20.875 |
| Kristín Björnsdóttir, Pálmi V Jónsson | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Heilsa, vellíðan og þarfir umönnunaraðila sem annast um eldri einstaklinga sem þiggja heimahjúkrun. | 14.861 |
| Ragnar Pétur Ólafsson | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Vanabundin svörun í þunglyndi: Þunglyndisþankar og breytingar í atferlismiðaðri meðferð við alvarlegu þunglyndi | 19.750 |
Social and Educational Sciences (19%)
| Principal Investigators | Project accounting | Title | ISK (þús.) |
| Elín Þöll Þórðardótti; | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Einstaklingsmunur í kunnáttu í öðru og þriðja máli á Íslandi: framboð og notkun á tækifærum til málanáms | 11.090 |
| Sigurjón B Hafsteinsson | University of Iceland-School of Social Sciences | Íslenski torfbærinn: vistkerfi, samlífi og arkitektúr | 20.790 |
| Sif Einarsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Social Sciences | Eldar í iðrum: Þróun áhuga, persónuleika og lífsgilda og áhrif á líf og störf frá unglingsaldri til fullorðinsára | 23.437 |
| Ásta Dís Óladóttir,Gary L. Darmstadt, David Anderson, David Gaddis Ross, Þóra H. Christiansen, Margrét Vilborg Bjarnadóttir, Sigrún Gunnarsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Social Sciences | Til að loka kynjabilinu þarf aðgerðir, inngrip og mælikvarða | 21.237 |
| Baldur Þórhallsson, Ásthildur Elva Bernharðsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Social Sciences | Áfallastjórnun í COVID-19 faraldrinum: Stjórnarhættir og leiðtogahæfni | 20.437 |
Humanities and the Arts (33%)
| Principal Investigators | Project accounting | Title | ISK (þús.) |
| Emily Diana Lethbridge | The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies | Kvennaspor: Afhjúpun og ljómun kvenna í sagnalandslagi Íslands | 21.213 |
| Eyja Margrét Jóhönnu Brynjarsdóttir, Nanna Hlín Halldórsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Flæðandi siðfræði. Femínísk siðfræði og #MeToo | 19.932 |
| Guðrún Nordal, Kate Heslop, Tarrin Wills | The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies | Viðtökur dróttkvæði: breytileiki brags og skáldskaparmáls í íslenskum handritum | 22.546 |
| Ásgrímur Angantýsson, Finnur Friðriksson | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Svæðisbundinn framburður, viðhorf og málbreytingar í rauntíma | 21.174 |
A total of 50 applications for Postdoctoral fellowships were received and 10 were funded, or around 20%.
Physical Sciences and Mathematics (25%)
| Principal Investigators | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Kristján Óttar Klausen | Science Institute-University of Iceland | Spin Dynamics Combining a Gauge Field Theory Approach with Geometric Algebra | 12.375 |
| Elli Inkeri Selenius | Science Institute-University of Iceland | Efficient molecular photoswitches identified using simulations of ultrafast charge transfer and solvation dynamics | 12.375 |
Natural and environmental sciences (20%)
| Principal Investigators | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Brendon Lee | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Blue whiting distribution and migration in Icelandic waters: an integrated approach to stock identification | 10.586 |
Life sciences (20%)
| Principal Investigators | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Guðjón Ólafsson | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Probing the function of human disease-related protein variants using Synthetic Physical Interactions and Deep Mutational Scanning | 12.375 |
Social and Educational Sciences (43%)
| Principal Investigators | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Luke Field | University of Iceland-School of Social Sciences | Elections and Emotive Political Rhetoric in Online Media | 12.204 |
| Hafsteinn Birgir Einarsson | University of Iceland-School of Social Sciences | Understanding the Effects of Nonresponse Errors on Data Quality in Icelandic Social Surveys | 12.375 |
| Vitaly Kazakov | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Sports Mega-Events and their Political Memory: A Comparative Study of the France 2016, Russia 2018 and Pan-European 2020 Football Championships | 12.369 |
Humanities and the Arts (17%)
| Principal Investigators | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Hrafnkell Freyr Lárusson | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Who selected the people's representatives? | 12.350 |
| Sólveig Guðmundsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Post-war Surrealism in Iceland | 12.033 |
| Kathy D'arcy | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Anfinn: Autism and Neurodiversity reFraming Innovation | 12.375 |
A total of 111 application for Doctoral fellowships were received and 26 were funded, or 22%.
Physical Sciences and Mathematics (31%)
| Principal Investigators | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Hendrik Schrautzer | Science Institute-University of Iceland | Ordering in multistable magnetic nanostructures | 8.475 |
| Méline Payet--Clerc | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Dynamics of Plinian basaltic eruptions from field reconstruction and physical modelling of historical plumes. | 4.483 |
| Ivan Tambovtsev | Science Institute-University of Iceland | Revolving Supramolecular Chiral Structures as Nanomotors in Cholesteric Liquid Crystals | 6.600 |
| Maxime Roland René Flin | Reykjavik University-Department of Computer Science | Distributed Graph Coloring in Constrained Models | 6.592 |
Engineering and technical science (19%)
| Principal Investigators | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Farnaz Bayat | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Nýtt Bayesískt líkan af jarðskjálftahreyfingum í nærsviði stórra jarðskjálftasprungna á Íslandi | 8.370 |
| Nidia Guadalupe Lopez Flores | Reykjavik University-Department of Computer Science | Djúpstæð þekking á námsferlum háskólanema með breytilegum netum | 8.013 |
| Maxime Elliott Tullio Segal | Reykjavik University-Department of Engineering | Hönnun fjárhlutfallskveikja fyrir skilgreind breytanleg skuldabréf | 7.870 |
| Mohiodin Nazemi | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Bætir skilvirkni þangþurrkunarferlisins og framleiðir hástyrktar kögglar úr þangi, sagi og heyi til ýmissa nota | 8.445 |
| Svava Kristinsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Affrumaður Brúnþaravefur sem Stoðefni í vefjaverkfræði | 8.430 |
Natural and environmental sciences (29%)
| Principal Investigators | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Michelle Valliant | University of Iceland's Institute of Research Centres | Áhrif manngerðra álagsþátta á ferðir fiska í nærsjó: breytileiki innan og á milli tegunda | 8.458 |
| Anna Selbmann | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Interspecific interactions between social top predators of the marine environment: the role of acoustic cues | 8.370 |
| Anja Katrin Nickel | University of Iceland's Institute of Research Centres | Variation in resource use in sympatric juvenile Atlantic cod and saithe under natural conditions | 8.375 |
| Theresa Henke | University of Iceland's Institute of Research Centres | The establishment of European flounder (Platichthys flesus) in Icelandic waters | 8.374 |
Life sciences (50%)
| Principal Investigators | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Yiming Yang Jónatansdóttir | Science Institute-University of Iceland | Biophysical screening of novel allosteric modulators in metabolic pathways and a QSAR approach towards therapeutic optimization | 8.370 |
| Abbi Elise Smith | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | The impact of cholesterol binding mutations of Smoothened on hedgehog signaling and osteoarthritis | 8.479 |
Clinical studies and public health (18%)
| Principal Investigators | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Ellen Kalesi Gondwe Mhango | Science Institute-University of Iceland | Formulation and testing of novel pediatric rescue dosage forms to treat children with cerebral malaria. | 8.325 |
| Ragnheiður I Bjarnadóttir | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Stillbirth in Iceland 1996-2021: incidence, causes and consequences | 7.875 |
Social and Educational Sciences (16%)
| Principal Investigators | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Dylan Andres Herrera Chacon | University of Iceland-School of Social Sciences | Adapting ex-combatant's reintegration to the conflicts of the 21st century | 8.375 |
| Magdalena Falter | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Entrepreneurship and the value of digital innovation in rural Iceland with a focus on tourism | 8.366 |
| Benedikta Björg Sörensen Valtýsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Education | Youth perceptions of gender-based violence and prevention in Iceland | 8.250 |
| Guðrún Svava Guðmundsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Sense of belonging: how landscape affects identity through time and space. A visual study of people from Hornstrandir |
8.416 |
Humanities and the Arts (29%)
| Principal Investigators | Project accounting | Title | ISK (thousand) |
| Zélia Catarina Pedro Rafael | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Is Walt Whitman Still Relevant for Today's America? Democracy, Race, Cancel Culture, and the Good Gray Poet |
8.370 |
| Súsanna Björg Vilhjálmsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Writing Education at Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Level in Iceland: The Transition from EFL to EMI | 8.250 |
| Valgerður T Gunnarsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Touching Landscape: the Agency of Aesthetic Experience | 8.370 |
| Yeonji Ghim | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | South Korea's Strategic Arctic Ambition: The Northeast Asian Cooperation as a Gateway to the Arctic | 8.104 |
| Milica Minic | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Democratic Accountability: Promises and Challenges | 8.370 |
The information published may include typos.
Amounts may change as a result of contract negotiations.
