Jón Atli Benediktsson, Rector of the University of Iceland, sent the following message to University staff and students today (11 March 2022):
"Every country needs a university that delves into the spirit of that nation: its history and culture, human connections with the society, ecosystems and environment. We often look to convince people, not least ourselves, that research needs some practical application, but we must not forget that university research has intrinsic value. Scholarship in and of itself changes us, changes the world. Knowledge is the foundation of wellbeing and fosters democracy.
"Science furthers all great deeds, strengthens the spirit, sharpens the mind, kindles hope."
So said the poet and scientist Jónas Hallgrímsson. Jónas was a prolific coiner of neologisms and gave us a wealth of new words that have become well established in the Icelandic language, words that we use every day without realising their origins. One such word is seigla, meaning resilience, a quality that has characterised everything our students and staff have done these past two years in the face of enormous challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Jónas' approach to language was not only inventive, but also strengthened Icelandic in a changing world, from which we benefit to this day. Likewise, one of the goals of the current Strategy of the University, UI26, is to strengthen the Icelandic language in an age of technological progress.
The board game Scrabble often inspires interesting neologisms and sometimes specialised terms; these will be among the topics discussed at the Humanities Conference that starts today. The Humanities Conference is an annual multiday event organised by the Centre for Research in the Humanities and will take place in Árnagarður and Oddi. There will be almost 40 seminars and over a hundred lectures to choose from, providing an overview of all the most significant work going on in the humanities at UI. For example, there will be lectures on human rights, multiculturalism, faith, climate disasters, literature, feminist philosophy, ancient history, sign language, Icelandic pop culture and of course specialised terminology and Scrabble. I encourage you all to take a look at the conference programme.
As I mentioned last week, the University of Iceland has improved its position on the list of most trusted Icelandic institutions. It is wonderful to see that, according to the Gallup results, UI enjoys very high levels of trust among young people, especially among the age demographics of current university students. This trust is down to the hard work of our researchers, instructors and other staff but also the efforts of our graduates who have gone on to improve Icelandic society. Dear students and colleagues, this is trust that you have earned for the University. I am extremely grateful to you. The results also show that levels of trust increase in line with respondents' level of education.
Preparations are now underway for renovations in the University Centre, which as you all know suffered considerable water damage from the flooding that occurred on campus last year. Work is also due to start on renovation of the Saga building on Hagatorg which, among other things, will house the School of Education. Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir will visit UI today to take a tour of this impressive building and learn about the ambitious plans for its use, as well as the latest news from the University of Iceland.
This latest news includes other important changes thanks to new buildings and improved facilities for teaching, learning and research. By improving our buildings and facilities, we can foster a vibrant community of people across different disciplines, sparking job-creating opportunities and solutions to diverse challenges. The newest feather in the University's cap will be a building for the School of Health Sciences, due to be constructed within a few years in connection with the new hospital on Hringbraut. Earlier this week, the University hired a team from the consulting engineering company Verkís to produce a final design for the new School of Health Sciences facilities.
The Digital University Day that took place last weekend was a huge success but now that we no longer have any public health restrictions, UI wants to provide even better resources for prospective students to find out more about both undergraduate and graduate programmes. The University therefore plans to host an open day across the entire campus, giving prospective students an opportunity to visit in person on Saturday 2 April. All schools will present a total of over 300 exciting undergraduate and graduate programmes in the University Centre. A large team of staff and students will be involved in this event and I am extremely grateful to everyone who has given up their time to help prospective students learn more about studying at UI.
These past two weeks we have all watched in horror at the events in Ukraine. We are witnessing one of the most serious military conflict in Europe since the end of the Second World War. We have seen an army cross the borders of a neighbouring country and rain shells on densely populated areas. The Russian invasion of Ukraine shows us that we can never take peace for granted and that we must never become complacent in our commitment to democracy. We must defend the values we hold most dear: human rights, freedom of expression, democracy itself.
Let's spread compassion Let's look out for one another.
Have a good weekend.
Jón Atli Benediktsson, Rector"