The PhD grants fund

• Application form is currently not available. Last application deadline was February 15th 2024.
   
• Confirmation of the supervisor's participation in the application

Grant amount from The University of Iceland doctoral grants fund
 

• Grants are awarded to one, two or three years. Starting from 2025 the grant will be 6.000.000 kr. per year.
   
• The monthly salary is 500.000 kr. Note that salary related expenses and taxes will be deducted from this amount.
   
• Salary related expenses are payments to pensions and unions, which are required by Icelandic law. There is also tax liability from incomes in Iceland.
   

Support fund of doctoral funds of UI
 

• The UI’s support fund of doctoral funds gives a support grant with each allocation from the Doctoral fund of the University of Iceland. The support grant amount depends on the fund's capital gains. The support grant is paid to the beneficiary in the form of a lump sum, in December of same year in which the doctoral students receive their first salary payment.
   

Arrangement of grant payments
 

• A contract regarding the transfer of grant is signed between The Division of Science and Innovation, the student, and the supervisor.
   
• Payments of grants from the Doctoral fund, be it from The Eimskip University fund, the Doctoral Grants of the University of Iceland Research fund or other relevant funds, are transferred into the school / institute research account.
   
• Supervisor requests that the research account is set up for the transfers.
   
• Transfers from the Doctoral Grants of the University of Iceland Research fund are made twice a year; 1st of January and 1st of July for 6 months each. If the grant period stars after 1st of January, the first transfer is made on 1st of July and if grant period starts after 1st of July the first transfer is made at the end of the year.
   
• Transfers from the Eimskip University fund are made 1st of every month and are made from Landsbankinn. First transfer is made in the beginning of the grant period.
   
• Last transfer (amount equal to one month salary) is withheld until after the doctoral defence and is made once an electronic copy of thesis is upploaded to open science (opinvisindi.is) or submitted to Division of Science and Innovation.
   
• Relevant school or institute makes an employment contract with the grantee who receives the grant in form of salaries in beginning of each month. The salaries are paid in arrears.

The general requirements for a doctoral grant
 

• The student must be properly registered in a doctoral programme and register every year.
   
• The student must be studying full-time (although it is permissible to perform sessional teaching for part of the time covered by the grant, up to a maximum of 20% employment).
   
• The student must submit an annual progress report to the PhD portal (by 15 January each year). The progress report must be approved by the relevant department.
   

Further information is available from the Division of Science and Innovation Office (rannsoknasjodir@hi.is)

The evaluation of applications is based on Regulation on the University of Iceland doctoral grant fund as well as the Standards and Requirements for the Quality of Doctoral Programmes, particularly paragraph 4.4. "Requirements for supervisors of doctoral students".
 

Supervisor shall generally...
 

• have completed a doctorate or its equivalent in the relevant field of scholarship. A qualification assessment for a position of full professor can supersede a doctorate degree.
   
• be recognised as an active specialist in the relevant field of scholarship.
   
• have published scholarly work in a field that makes stringent scientific requirements, and is related to the student's project in any way.
   
• have considerable experience collaborating on research with internationally recognised specialists in a relevant field of scholarship outside the University of Iceland.

General criteria of allocation
 

• A doctoral programme should take no longer than 3-4 years from enrolment to defence based on full funding.
   
• The evaluation for grant awards is primarily based on the duration since the student's enrollment, as well as the specified study length for the department offering the program.
   
• For instance, if a student has been enrolled in a three-year program for one year, they are eligible to receive a grant for up to two additional years. If they have been enrolled for two years, they can receive a grant for a maximum of one additional year.  Exceptions to this rule may be made in cases of parental leave or illness during the enrollment period.
   

Evaluation of projects
 

• Generally, one independent expert shall review each application before it is discussed by the review panel.
   
• It is important to ensure that reviewers are experts in the academic field relevant to the application and are not themselves applicants.
   
• Furthermore, the connection between the project and the supervisor's academic field must be evaluated.

Assessment of research environment and supervisor
 

• Priority is given to ensuring that facilities, research infrastructure, and the academic environment provide adequate conditions to support doctoral students in completing their projects. The research infrastructure and academic environment include the following:
  
  The expertise of the supervisor and the doctoral committee.
  Supervisor's experience with international research collaboration.
  Equipment and research facilities (if applicable).
   
• The supervisor's experience in supervising doctoral students is considered, (e.g. graduation records and/or supervision training courses).
   
• If a supervisor has had a student who was awarded a grant but did not complete their doctorate within the timeframe specified by the faculty's regulations, the supervisor must provide an account of the student’s progress.
   
• When the primary supervisor is from outside the University of Iceland, a supervising faculty member within the department must fulfill these requirements. In such cases, the specific benefits of the partnership to the University of Iceland must be separately assessed.
   
• A supervisor can generally only have two students funded by UI doctoral grants fund at any given time.

Student - Route A and C
 

• The student's performance in undergraduate and master's studies is considered:
  
  The assessment of a student's performance is solely applied for grade enhancement. Therefore, it is important to submit a copy of the academic transcripts from both undergraduate and graduate studies. Also, if possible, provide documents showing the student's ranking. Special attention is given to whether students have been, at the very least, in the top 20% of their class in undergraduate and/or master's programs. If it is not possible to obtain such documents, applicants are encouraged to submit other materials they believe may strengthen their application, such as recommendation letters or other documents.
   
• Student's academic progress since admission and study rate is considered (Route A):
  
  The student is responsible for accounting on the application form any parental leave, illness, or other factors that may have prolonged their study duration beyond what is considered normal.
   
• Applications from students who are also members of the university's academic staff are given lower priority when grants are awarded.

Grading of the application
 

• The project: the grading is based on a review from an external reviewer as well as an evaluation of an internal review panel.
   
• The supervisor's activities: the grading is based on the supervisor's publishing output and supervision experience (a special consideration shall be given to new academic staff).
   
• The student: the grading is based on the students’ grades at the undergraduate and graduate levels, additional experience, publications and report on academic progress (Route A). Students can submit references along with the application.

Grants awarded via B route. Requirements for the awarding of a grant
 

To ensure that doctoral students receiving a grant through Route B meet the same standards as those awarded grants through Routes A or C, the board of the UI research fund establishes the following requirements for grant allocation:
 

• The grant must be advertised in collaboration with the relevant UI school or institute and/or the UI division of human resources, and it should be published on Starfatorg as well as other official international channels.
   
• The supervisor is responsible for appointing a candidate from among the applicants to the board of the UI research fund by November 15th of the year the grant is awarded. This appointment must include the following:
   

1. Candidate‘s detailed CV.
    
2. Certified transcripts of academic records from both undergraduate and graduate studies.
    
3. Two letters of reference.
    
4. A copy of the published advertisement as well as general information on where it was published.
    
5. General description on the recruitment process, such as the total number of applicants, number of applicants interviewed and rationale for the selection of the candidate.
    

If the above mentioned conditions are not met then the grant may be withdrawn.

The board of the UI's research fund assesses whether the candidate meets the fund’s requirements regarding grantees in accordance with the Standards and Requirements for the Quality of Doctoral Programmes and the regulations of the relevant faculty.