Hrefna Dögg Receives the Motivation Award for Young Researchers 2026

Hrefna Dögg Gunnarsdóttir, assistant professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Iceland, received the Icelandic Centre for Research Motivation Award for Young Researchers last Thursday. The award is given to young scientists who, early in their careers, are believed to have excelled and raised expectations for scientific contributions that could strengthen the foundations of Icelandic society. Logi Einarsson, Minister of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education, presented Hrefna Dís with the award at the Icelandic Centre for Research (Rannís) research congress held at Hotel Reykjavik Natura.

As mentioned above, Hrefna Dögg is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Iceland, and her research focuses on health law and statutory requirements in science, including Environmental DNA science. Hrefna was born in 1984 and completed a bachelor's degree in law in 2011 and a master’s degree in 2012 from the University of Iceland. Additionally, she completed a master’s degree in disaster management from the University of Copenhagen in 2018. She then started her PhD at the University of Copenhagen and defended her thesis in 2023. Her thesis focused on statutory requirements for the transparent use of health data for scientific purposes.

Has Done Pioneering Research in Her Field

Before Hrefna Dögg started her PhD, she gained practical experience working as a solicitor at Réttur – Aðalsteinsson & Partners. After completing her PhD, she became a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen, and in 2024, she was hired as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Iceland. Along with her position at UI, she has worked as a researcher at WELMA – Centre for Legal Studies in Welfare and Market in the Faculty of Law at the University of Copenhagen. She has also held the position of a visiting scholar at Harvard Law School in the US and at the Faculty of Law at Uppsala University in Sweden.
 

Hrefna Dögg has conducted research in health law, health data processing, large databases used for scientific purposes, privacy protection, biotechnology, and reciprocity in scientific research. In a short span of time, she has done pioneering work in her field, and her research, published by prestigious international publishers, has influenced international discussions on legal, ethical, and societal standards for new research methods in bioscience and the genetic sciences.

Received a Major Grant for an International Research Project

Hrefna Dögg’s research has garnered significant attention within the scientific community, as evidenced by the recognition she received upon being awarded a grant of nearly three million US dollars from the Wellcome Trust research fund. She received the grant for the research project “Fostering Reciprocity in Environmental DNA science through Yielded stewardship, Just benefit and Accountability” or FREYJA. Hrefna Dögg serves as principal investigator and grant recipient in the FREYJA project, which brings together four working groups in the fields of law, collaborative research and community engagement, knowledge exchange, and capacity building. The FREYJA research team will work closely with Indigenous communities in both Rapa Nui and Canada. FREYJA addresses reciprocity, justice, and responsibility in scientific research in ancient environmental genomics and brings together, in an original way, legal analysis, societal viewpoints, and the practical training of scientists.

Hrefna Dögg has taken an active part in international specialist councils and policymaking in the fields of environmental genomics, health law and human rights. She has been a member of The Genetics Discrimination Observatory, an international council of specialists that works on preventive measures against genetic discrimination, and is chair of the board of Nordic Permed Law, a Nordic network that explores legal issues related to the implementation of precision medicine. Further, Hrefna Dögg is an active participant in Value from Nordic Health Data (VALO), which aims to establish a common framework across the Nordic countries for implementing the European Health Data Space Regulation.

The selection committee considers Hrefna Dögg to be an outstanding young scientist who has demonstrated independence, originality, and enterprise in her research and has done pioneering work in her field. She has set expectations for scientific contributions that could strengthen the foundations of Icelandic society and has shared her expert knowledge, both nationally and internationally.

About the Award

The Icelandic Centre for Research Motivation Award for Young Researchers is awarded to scientists who, early in their careers, are believed to have excelled and raised expectations for scientific contributions that could strengthen the foundations of Icelandic society. The award has been presented since 1987. Its aim is to encourage scientists and to raise public awareness of the importance of research and scientific work.