A Diverse Community

The University of Iceland is a diverse community of students and staff with different needs, interests, skills, background and experiences. However, we all share the need for positive encouragement, respect, support, and tolerance.

Opportunities for Students

We must take deliberate steps to reform the university’s internal structure so that students can fully benefit from the broad expertise of faculty members across the university and access learning opportunities outside of the University of Iceland, especially abroad, without bureaucratic obstacles.

Academic Staff

I believe it is important to explore ways to diversify and increase the flexibility of the career paths of academic staff, with an emphasis on increased teamwork, enabling everyone’s strengths to be fully utilized.

Simplification of Procedures

Over the past few years, I have taken on various roles within the University of Iceland, which has given me insight into numerous opportunities for process simplification, decision-making, and change implementation.

Reduced Workload–Increased Quality

The implementation of the University of Iceland’s quality assurance system, which is currently under review, presents a unique opportunity to standardize procedures to the greatest extent possible, aiming to improve efficiency, reduce workload, and further enhance the quality of education, teaching, and research.

Improved Services

It is essential to accelerate projects in the field of information technology that support services for students and staff across all areas of the university.

Growth

The University of Iceland’s potential for continued growth as an international research university lies primarily in enhanced collaboration. Increased cooperation must be built on trust, honesty, and, above all, good communication.

Research Infrastructure

In some cases, larger structural units are needed for research activities and doctoral programs to create a stronger framework and academic environment for doctoral studies and postdoctoral training that meets international standards. We must simultaneously focus on infrastructure across disciplines.

Quality of Study Programs

We must ensure clearly defined responsibility for the quality assurance of individual study programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Regular curriculum reviews should be conducted as a collaborative effort, ensuring that student needs are prioritized so that programs effectively prepare them for careers or further studies.

The Role of the University of Iceland

The University of Iceland is both an international research university and a national university with significant social responsibilities. Funding is a fundamental pillar of its diverse activities; therefore, the Rector must actively engage in dialogue with the government regarding financial priorities.

Development of a Funding Model

The new higher education funding model is still in development. Discussions with the government are needed on how the model can account for societal engagement, societal impact, innovation, and the University of Iceland’s leadership role. An increased budget for basic research is also an urgent issue that requires immediate government attention.

University of Iceland Finances

I believe that the government is working towards increased overall budget of universities in Iceland and will continue developing the funding model and how various factors are weighted in that model.

We have no control over the decisions of the government at any given time. However, we have full control over how we manage the financial resources entrusted to us. We also have complete authority over the internal systems we have built around our operations. The systems I refer to include funding allocation models (how budgets are distributed within the university), teaching workload calculations, and the assessment of work hours assigned to courses.

How would your study program and individual courses look if we did not have to worry about fitting them into all these systems?

Vision

I am convinced that we can change the aspects of our work that we have full control over, and these changes would increase flexibility for staff and reduce overall workload. This, in turn, would allow us to entrust others with a portion of our students’ education, broaden their perspectives, and enabling them to shape their own futures. This includes taking courses or engaging with other faculties within the University of Iceland, regional research centres across the country, other Icelandic universities, internships, or an exchange program in any of the 400+ international universities with which the University of Iceland has partnership agreements.

In this context, it is worth noting that there is a variable in the funding model that could accommodate a temporary reduction in the number of completed units when implementing these changes.

I believe that we can shape this future vision together. The task is undoubtedly complex and challenging. This is a project I would like to lead as Rector of the University of Iceland; it starts in faculties and study programs and requires all of us to be willing to participate, trust one another, and work together.