UI students receive sholarships to study at Caltech

Two undergraduate students at the University of Iceland received a scholarship for a 10 week project this summer at California Institute of Technology - Caltech in Pasadena, California. The students going to Caltech are Ásgeir Tryggvason and Bergþór Traustason, both studying engineering physics.

This is the thenth time these grants are awarded. The University of Iceland and Caltech have been in a structured partnership since 2008 in the fields of teaching and research. The collaboration involves the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, or SURF, at Caltech. This programme is based on research collaboration between supervisor and student in undergraduate studies. From the beginning of the SURF collaboration 26 students from the University of Iceland have gone to Caltech, and this year two more are going.

Caltech university is one of the world‘s leading research universities, and is placed in the second seat according to the esteemed Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Dr Kiyo Tomiyasu (1919-2015), was a world renowned scientist in the field of electrical engineering and a key figure in establishing the collaboration between Caltech and the University of Iceland.  The Rector of the University of Iceland decided last year that the grants allocated would bear the name of the couple Kiyo and Eiko Tomiyasu who have shown the Icelandic students at Caltech exceptional kindness through the years.