Division of Science and Innovation

This refers to applications to academic positions (lecturer, senior lecturer, professor, research specialist, research scholar or research scientist).

Applications should be completed in the application form for the position (appears in the advertisement).

Advertisements may request various documents to be sent with the application, and applications for different positions may require different accompanying documents. However, generally the following documents are requested:

1.CV (as detailed and thorough as possible).

2. Bibliography and lecture record (as detailed and thorough as possible).

3. Report on scientific work and other work, as well as a report on intentions if hired.

4. Certification of academic record and previous employment, as well as degree certificates and report cards, and a testimonial from the applicant's employer at a previous place of work.

5. An application must state the applicant's foremost published works, up to a total of eight. Only these works shall be sent with the application, or a link to them if they are accessible online. In the case of a jointly authored work, the applicant must account for his or her contribution.

6.References for teaching and administrative work. 

Hiring process

1. After the application deadline expires, receipt of an application is confirmed by email and a three-person evaluation committee is appointed to evaluate whether applicants meet the minimum requirements for the position in question.

2. The evaluation committee has 30 days to produce a verdict. When the evaluation committee has delivered its verdict, applicants shall be informed and have two weeks to comment on it.

3. At the end of this two-week period, the matter shall be referred to a selection committee. The selection committee has 30 days to recommend a candidate to the school dean.

4. When the school dean has taken the final decision, the successful candidate will be offered the job. When an applicant has accepted the job, the other applicants shall be informed of this. Following this, any published material which has been sent in physical form shall be returned to applicants. Note that unpublished material, e.g. bibliographies, degree certificates and drafts of articles will not be returned.

Attention is drawn to the fact that the evaluation committee and selection committee are not authorised to make lower requirements of applicants than those stipulated by legislation, regulation or the job advertisement. For example, if the advertisement states that the applicant must have a doctorate, it is not possible to hire anybody who does not have a doctorate.

This refers to promotion following recruitment or promotion of University of Iceland academic staff.

Promotion following recruitment. Rules of procedure.

Promotion of academic staff. Staff considering applying for promotion must obtain information from the Division of Science and Innovation on their accumulated points before 1 October. The application deadline is 1 November each year. Further information on the promotion can be found in Ugla.

This refers to the conferral of academic titles for health personnel at healthcare institutions which have signed a cooperative agreement with the University of Iceland.

Information page regarding the conferral of academic titles

Conferral of an academic title

The conferral of academic titles is carried out in accordance with the Regulation on recognition by the University of Iceland of the academic competence of staff at the Landspítali University Hospital and the conferral of academic titles, no. 888/2016, which is accessible here: https://www.hi.is/haskolinn/reglur_nr_888_2016 (in Icelandic)

The regulations state that applications shall be sent to the head of the School of Health Sciences faculty in question. The current heads of faculty are:

Faculty of Nursing: Herdís Sveinsdóttir, Professor (herdis@hi.is)

Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences: Hákon Hrafn Sigurðsson, Professor (hhs@hi.is)

Faculty of Medicine: Engilbert Sigurðsson, Professor (engilbs@lsh.is)

Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition: Bryndís Eva Birgisdóttir, Professor (beb@hi.is)

Faculty of Psychology: Daníel Þór Ólason, Professor (dto@hi.is)

Faculty of Odontology: Bjarni Elvar Pjétursson, Professor (bep@hi.is)

The regulations stipulate furthermore that it is possible to apply for the conferral of an academic title at other University of Iceland faculties. The main rule, however, is to apply for conferral of a title with one of the School of Health Sciences' faculties.

There is no special application form. In accordance with the aforementioned regulations, applicants must specify any collaboration or prospective collaboration with the University of Iceland and, as applicable, other universities, the collaborating parties, collaborative projects and their main objectives (report on intentions).

The following documents must accompany the application (cf. Article 37 of the Regulation for the University of Iceland no. 569/2009):

Bibliography and CV

Certification of academic record and previous employment

Applicants must specify those publications, up to a total of eight, which they consider most significant. In the case of a jointly authored work, the applicant must account for his or her contribution.

Applicants may also include references for their teaching and administrative work, as appropriate

The application process is as follows:

Applications are sent to the head of the faculty in question.

The faculty takes the application under consideration. Should the faculty recommend an application, it shall be referred to the Division of Science and Innovation and selection committee along with a supporting argument written in consideration of the points mentioned in paragraph 1, Article 1 of the aforementioned Regulations.

The selection committee in collaboration with the Division of Science and Innovation takes the application under consideration and gives its opinion as to whether the applicant meets the requirements regarding academic competence as well as those needed to work as a lecturer, senior lecturer, or professor. The verdict is sent to the school dean as well as the head of the faculty in question.

The school dean and head of the respective faculty submit a joint proposal to the rector regarding whether the applicant should receive recognition of academic competence and which academic title should be conferred. This proposal must be accompanied by a draft contract between the applicant and the school dean on behalf of the faculty in question, outlining the objectives of the collaboration and the rights and responsibilities that may apply.

Once all requirements have been met, the rector shall confer the academic title.

Recognition of academic competence shall be valid for five years from the conferral of the academic title, although it shall be repealed if the individual in question ceases to work at the Landspítali University Hospital or another healthcare institution that has signed a cooperative agreement with UI, or if the individual takes an academic position at the University of Iceland. After five years, the selection committee may, with the approval of the rector, renew the academic title for an indefinite period. It is recommended that applicants inform the Division of Science and Innovation of their intention to renew the academic title no later than six months before the five-year term of validity ends.

A request for promotion requires submitting a new application to the faculty.

Regulation on the academic competence of health personnel

See Rules of Procedure

Application form for inviting visiting lectures. 

Contact: Brynja Dís Guðmundsdóttir

The Division of Science and Innovation, along with the Division of Finance, are responsible for and have the mandate to enforce the University's rules on receiving, managing, administering, and financial reporting of external funds. In addition, the Division of Science and Innovation is responsible for and has the mandate to monitor externally funded research projects in order to ensure compliance with the funders' rules. 

See the University's Rules of Procedure (currently in Icelandic only) regarding the obligations of and support to grant recipients.

There are many things to consider when applying for research grants. All applications should be prepared in cooperation with the Schools' Research Directors in order to ensure that all project costs are included and that all information about the University and the project's finances, including salaries, are correct. In addition, the University's capacity to implement the project's task must be ensured.
Since all grant applications entail some sort of a financial obligation for the University, whether it be in-kind contributions, time allocations of staff or facilities, support services (the Research Directors of the Schools or a member of the Grants Office team at the Division of Science and Innovation) must be notified of all grant applications that are submitted on behalf of the University of Iceland. 

Applicants must use the correct Participant Identification Code (PIC) for the University of Iceland (999884246). Employees should under no circumstances create a new PIC number for the University. The Division of Science and Innovation provides information on personnel costs for applicants preparing the budget for external grant applications.

Different rules apply for various funders, e.g. NordForsk, EEA Grants, Nordplus etc. No application should be submitted to any of these funds without consulting support services first (i.e. the Research Directors of the Schools or a member of the Grants Office team at the Division of Science and Innovation).

DUNS: Support services (the Research Directors of the Schools or a member of the Grants Office team at the Division of Science and Innovation) must be notified of all grant applications that are submitted on behalf of the University of Iceland. When applying for federal grants from the USA, care must be taken to use the correct identification number, i.e. the so-called DUNS number, for the University of Iceland (565616903). An employee should, under no circumstances, create a new DUNS number for the University. The requirements of USA funders vary but all requested information is available with the staff of the grants office at the Division of Science and Innovation. Should you need assistance with this please turn to the Grants Office team at the Division of Science and Innovation grantsoffice@hi.is

FCOI (Policy on Financial Conflicts of Interests)

Researchers must familiarise themselves with the obligations that each grant agreement entails and what responsibilities the University of Iceland is taking on by signing the agreement. All agreements and contracts regarding grants and/or research cooperation must be sent to the legal officer at the Division of Science and Innovation, for reviewing. Researchers do not sign grant agreements. The Head of the Division of Science and Innovation signs grant agreements under the mandate of the Rector of the University.

Day-to-day operation of research projects is conducted at the School level. The Division of Science and Innovation provides advice and is responsible for the monitoring of projects and compliance with funders' rules. The Division of Science and Innovation also issues a frame of reference for salary calculations for project personnel as well as publishing a handbook for management of projects funded by the EU H2020 Framework Programme.

Grant agreements often include a requirement for an external audit, whether it be on the technical and/or financial part of the project. The audit can entail a certificate for the financial statements provided by an external auditor and/or deliverables, or a formal audit launched by the funder.

According to the University's procedures regarding the obligations of and support to grant recipients, the Division of Science and Innovation is responsible for coordinating external audits of research projects, coordinating responses to the audit, and handling all communication with auditors.

The University of Iceland emphasizes the social impact of the research and academic activities at the university. The Intellectual property  (IP) committee supports the university staff and Ph.D. students in knowledge transfer and commercialisation of their results. The IP committee operates according to a letter of appointment issued by the University Board and the CEO of Landspitali- The National University Hospital of Iceland and according to legislation nr. 72/2004 on the inventions of employees. 
Further information is found on the website of the IP committee.

According to law, employees are required to notify their employer about inventions that could result in a patent. Employees of University of Iceland and Landspitali- The National University Hospital of Iceland fill in a form of Disclosure of invention should they suspect that scientific results obtained may be patentable. The IP committee receives and reviews the Disclosure together with the inventor and other experts.

Audna is the name of an association of all universities in Iceland, The Science Park of the University of Iceland and major public research institutions, The Ministry of Industries and Innovation and Ministry of Education, Science and Culture.  The purpose of Audna is to establish a National TTO sourcing all of the publicly funded scientific community in Iceland and relaying relevant scientific results into the hands of capable entrepreneurs, investors and industry.  A National TTO will greatly facilitate the capture of opportunities that lie in the excellent science being conducted at the universities and the public research institutes.

The aim of the prize is to strengthen innovation and entrepreneurship within the University by awarding the best developing ideas and research findings that could benefit the Icelandic society. Both staff and students are eligible for the prize.

Further information about the Applied Science Prize (in Icelandic)