Research is the basis of improved lives
“The government has to give priority to universities in Iceland,” said Jón Atli Benediktsson, Rector of the University of Iceland, when addressing the candidates at the graduation ceremony in Háskólabíó last Saturday. This was his first graduation as Rector of the University of Iceland, as Jón Atli Benediktsson superseded Kristín Ingólfsdóttir in July last year. The graduates were 411 in total; 211 from undergraduate studies and 200 from graduate studies.
Jón Atli Benediktsson emphasized university funding in his address stating that all funding for the University was put to good use thus benefiting society as a whole. International and domestic appraisals had repeatedly shown the University of Iceland to be an extremely efficient and well operated institution.
He said that it was important that the University move forward and receive funding on par with the Nordic universities, maintaining that recent years‘ accomplishments is not enough.
The rector placed great emphasis on the importance of research in his address as the foundation of improved teaching in universities as well as increased prosperity in Iceland. “Research is the basis for an improved standard of living, research leads to practical findings in diverse fields of study and the creation of knowledge leads to new companies and new jobs. We regularly receive news of growth companies built on research by scientists and students at the University of Iceland. Research findings are put to practical use in all of the five University schools. Numerous ideas are born in this fertile academic community, many of which have been realised in society,” says Benediktsson.
Well over a hundred growth companies in Iceland stem from research projects within the University of Iceland; often a collaboration between academic staff and students. The combined turnover of these companies is a significant contribution to the Icelandic economy. Some have continued to grow domestically, whilst others have been sold. The software company CLARA was sold not too long go for over a billion Icelandic krona to the American software giant Jive Sofware. CLARA was founded by University students.
Innovation takes place in all fields of study at the University of Iceland and in various forms. Master students in creative writing have, since 2008, published 50 works; plays, poems, novels, youth books and comics, to name but a few. They have been nominated and received many major literary acknowledgements in Iceland. An open source, digital map, showing all the places that occur in the Icelandic Sagas, won this year’s UI Applied Science Prize. The map is the result of five years of research work on Icelandic mediaeval literature. This idea is a great example of how the cultural heritage is used in an innovative manner; in teaching and tourism, the fastest growing industry in Iceland.
Furthermore, Benediktsson said that work on the University policy for the next five years was in its final stages. It will be issued under the heading “Thriving University – prosperous society.”
„The goal of the University is to always award degrees in line with international quality paradigms, this is of the utmost importance in a competitive international environment. The University is Iceland’s most prolific scientific research institute, leading in the education of professionals in diverse fields of study, with active connections to the labour market and society; deeply rooted in Icelandic history and culture. We want to cultivate this connection in various ways in the future to strengthen the quality of education and to ensure that the influence of the University is widely felt in Icelandic community,” said Jón Atli Benediktsson, Rector of the University of Iceland.
