"My research is focused on fathers who have been violent towards intimate partners. Their own perspectives on their actions, the process of stopping violent behaviour, and media coverage of fathers and violence," says Rannveig Ágústa Guðjónsdóttir, adjunct lecturer at the University of Iceland School of Education, explaining her current project which she has entitled "Fathers and violence". The study is part of a larger project aiming to map the perspectives of men with a history of violence using various different approaches.

Research of this kind is absolutely vital in Rannveig Ágústa's opinion, because the findings can help us identify solutions to improve the situation. "Sociological research generally enables us to assess a situation at a certain point in time, understand our reality and the society in which we live. By mapping problems, we have the opportunity to work with those problems and develop potential reforms and preventative measures."

University of Iceland's research scientists are part of a research team on sustainable tourism in the Arctic that recently published a report: Arctic Tourism in Times of Change - Uncertain Futures: From Overtourism to Re-starting Tourism.  

Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, at the beginning of 2020 many destinations in the circumpolar region were struggling to attract tourists and build up viable businesses, while others were experiencing rapid and unsustainable growth in tourist arrivals.  The project Partnership for Sustainability: Arctic Tourism in Times of Change  sought to develop a framework for the sustainability of Arctic tourism.  

When the volcanic eruption at Fagradalsfjall on the Reykjanes peninsula began just over a year ago, people naturally starting thinking about the risk of the lava reaching nearby towns and infrastructure, which would have caused significant damage and had a serious impact on human lives and the economy. Various action was taken in an attempt to direct the lava flow along a certain path, preventing it from flowing across the road Suðurstrandarvegur. This action was based in part on lava flow models developed by scientists at the University of Iceland in collaboration with colleagues at the Icelandic Meteorological Office and around the world. 

"Haven't we all at one time or another asked ourselves questions like: Do I really get as much back from the contributions I make to society as the person next to me? How does my socioeconomic background affect my success in life? This project is my way of trying to find some answers to questions like these," says PhD student Emil Dagsson, who is using methodology from the field of economics to shed light on opportunities for people to make a better life for themselves within Icelandic society.

"The goal of my research is to measure the privilege experienced by different social groups, as well as evaluating to what extent equal opportunities exist in our society. To do this, I am evaluating social mobility between generations in Iceland, the main factors being education and income. These things tell us how the socioeconomic status of parents can affect their children," explains Emil.