The Icelandic Centre for Research
Allocation from the Icelandic Research Fund for the financial year 2026
12th February 2026
The Board of The Icelandic Research Fund has completed the allocation of grants for new research projects for 2026. A total of 414 valid applications were received, 70 of which were funded, or 17%.
The Icelandic Research Fund (IRF) is the leading competitive research fund in Iceland. The fund grants projects in all areas of science, from doctoral students grants to grants of excellence. Grants of excellence are awarded to major projects that excel in their field and have an international relevance. The Icelandic Research Fund (IRF) is under the perview of the ministry of culture-, innovation and higher education.
Grants for new projects amount is close to ISK 1.3 billion this year, but since projects are generally for three years, the total cost is almost ISK 3.8 billion in the years 2026-2028.
Below is an overview of the breakdown between grant types. Amounts may change as a result of contract negotiations.
Grants of excellence (all expert panels)
A total of 25 applications for grants of excellence were received and 2 funded, or 8%.
Project leader | Institution | Title | ISK (Y1) |
Hans Tómas Björnsson | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Elucidation of the mammalian mild hypothermia response (COLD-response) | 60.625.000 |
Finnur Ulf Dellsén | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | The Consensus Project | 44.785.000 |
Startup grants (all expert panels)
A total of 29 applications for startup grants were received and 1 funded, or 3%.
Project leader | Institution | Title | ISK (Y1) |
Guðjón Ólafsson | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | The Role of Centromeric Transcription in Stress-induced Chromosomal Instability | 27.293.750 |
Project grants
A total of 163 applications for project grants were received and 29 funded, or 18%.
Physical Sciences and Mathematics (16%)
Proj. leader, Principle investigator(s) | Institution | Title | ISK (Y1) |
Pavla Dagsson Waldhauserová | Agricultural University of Iceland | Dust Changing the High Latitudes | 29.086.248 |
Vala Hjörleifsdóttir | Reykjavik University-Department of Engineering | SeaLight - Leveraging Trans-oceanic telecom infrastructure in the Subarctic Atlantic Ocean for seismological research | 25.391.250 |
Sigurður Ingi Erlingsson | Reykjavik University-Department of Engineering | Interplay of magnetization and transport properties in topological insulator nanowires | 29.602.855 |
Elvar Örn Jónsson | Science Institute-University of Iceland | Locally scaled and fully variational self-interaction correction with complex optimal orbitals | 24.125.000 |
Engineering and technical science (19%)
Proj. leader, Principle investigator(s) | Institution | Title | ISK (Y1) |
Luca Aceto, Anna Ingólfsdóttir, Elli Anastasiadi, Kim Guldstrand Larsen, Martin Zimmermann | Reykjavik University-Department of Computer Science | Hyperlogics: Expressiveness, Monitorability and Tools (H.-Lo) | 23.903.950 |
Hans Peter Reiser | Reykjavik University-Department of Computer Science | FrostShield: Explainable and Automated Cyber Defence based on Privacy-Aware Monitoring and Machine Learning | 23.692.230 |
Yngvi Björnsson | Reykjavik University-Department of Computer Science | Explainable AI and Active Learning in Heuristic-Search-Based Agents | 25.238.625 |
Milad Kowsari, Benedikt Halldórsson | Icelandic Met Office | New Earthquake Hazard Maps for Southwest Iceland: A Framework for Quantifying and Propagating Uncertainties (EQSIGMA) | 30.237.500 |
Bing Wu | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Geothermal water mining: recovering rubidium with a hybrid membrane process | 14.935.000 |
Valgerður Guðrún Halldórsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Mapping the uterus: Subharmonic Aided Pressure Estimation as a novel biomarker for the evaluation of uterine fibroids, endometriosis and adenomyosis | 16.447.500 |
Natural and environmental sciences (19%)
Proj. leader, Principle investigator(s) | Institution | Title | ISK (Y1) |
Isabel Pilar Catalan Barrio | Agricultural University of Iceland | Understanding diet composition and quality of tundra herbivores | 30.393.750 |
Alejandro Salazar Villegas | Agricultural University of Iceland | Assisted development of biological soil crust (BIOCRUST) for ecosystem restoration | 14.862.600 |
Victor A. Albert | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Genomic Architecture of Rapid Adaptation in the Pioneer Plant Honckenya peploides: How Polyploidy, Aneuploidy, and Tandem Duplications Drive its Success on Iceland’s Volcanic Coasts | 28.998.750 |
Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir, Kevin J Dillman | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Provisioning for a Good Life within Planetary Boundaries | 26.042.500 |
Life sciences (22%)
Proj. leader, Principle investigator(s) | Institution | Title | ISK (Y1) |
Guðmundur H Guðmundsson, Qiong Wang | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Resolving the Mechanisms of Action for Novel Intestinal Mucositis Therapeutic Candidates | 25.515.000 |
Stefán Þórarinn Sigurðsson | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Isoform-specific roles of MITF in the preservation of genome integrity | 22.842.500 |
Guðrún Valdimarsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | TGF-beta/SMAD pathways in human placental trophoblast invasion and preeclampsia | 24.462.500 |
Valur Emilsson, Þórarinn Guðjónsson | The Icelandic Heart Association | Insights into tumorigenesis from serum proteins | 24.422.500 |
Clinical studies and public health (14%)
Proj. leader, Principle investigator(s) | Institution | Title | ISK (Y1) |
Helga Zoega | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Generating real-world safety evidence on prescription medications during pregnancy: Immediate and long-term treatment outcomes of psychotropics | 27.497.500 |
Jóhanna Gunnarsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Histopathologic Insights into Placental Dysfunction: Toward Better Detection of Preeclampsia and Stillbirth | 29.573.986 |
Edda Björk Þórðardóttir | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Mental and physical health effects of longstanding natural disasters | 23.282.500 |
Social and Educational Sciences (14%)
Proj. leader, Principle investigator(s) | Institution | Title | ISK (Y1) |
Rúna Sif Stefánsdóttir, Ársæll Már Arnarsson, Vaka Rögnvaldsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Education | Breaking Barriers: A Longitudinal Study of Mental Health, Social Well-Being, Physical Development and Performance in Female Youth Soccer Players | 24.636.300 |
Árni Kristjánsson | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Seeing structure: The role of higher-order spatial statistics in visual perception and temporal integration | 28.752.500 |
Gylfi Zoega | University of Iceland-School of Social Sciences | Life-cycle Impacts of Fast-Tracked Secondary Education (LIFT) | 18.023.750 |
Kathryn Margaret Crowe, Jóhanna Thelma Einarsdóttir, Þóra Másdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Optimisation of the World of Words | 28.562.412 |
Sigrún Ólafsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Social Sciences | Digital societies, technology and artificial intelligence: Iceland in a comparative perspective | 24.816.250 |
Humanities and the Arts (27%)
Proj. leader, Principle investigator(s) | Institution | Title | ISK (Y1) |
Gísli Rúnar Harðarson | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Speak the Tree: Explorations into the syntax-phonology interface | 23.570.000 |
Gavin Murray Lucas, Ágústa Edwald Maxwell, Árni Daníel Júlíusson, Douglas James Bolender, Megan Taylor Hicks | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Independent People? Icelandic Households in the Long Nineteenth Century | 26.677.500 |
Þórhallur Eyþórsson, Heimir Freyr Viðarsson | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Language contact in Early Modern Icelandic: The role of social structure and proto-urbanization in language change | 18.943.750 |
Postdoctoral fellowships
A total of 73 applications for Postdoctoral fellowships were received and 15 funded, or 21%.
Physical Sciences and Mathematics (25%)
Postdoctoral fellow | Institution | Title | ISK (Y1) |
Maarit Hannele Kalliokoski | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | (Crypto)tephrochronology from mountain lake sediments in Southern Iceland | 14.700.000 |
Thomas Jacky Louis Joel Gascard | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Cosmic dawn: Pathfinder instrumentation for BISOU and CMB spectrometry. | 14.749.995 |
Engineering and technical science (19%)
Postdoctoral fellow | Institution | Title | ISK (Y1) |
Meha Agrawal | Reykjavik University-Department of Engineering | Semi-analytical and Computer-aided Design Methodology of Beamforming Antennas for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles | 14.658.730 |
Arnar Már Viðarsson | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Investigation of high-K gate dielectrics for SiC MOSFETs | 14.749.995 |
Seyedreza Hassanianmoaref | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Data-driven and physics-informed learning techniques: for particle-laden turbulent flow (DP4PL) | 14.745.000 |
Natural and environmental sciences (22%)
Postdoctoral fellow | Institution | Title | ISK (Y1) |
Andrea Pozzi | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | An unexplored side of evolution: Mixed Gene Networks | 14.750.000 |
Laura Oller Lopez | Háskóli Íslands - Stofnun Rannsóknasetra | Contaminants in killer whales: interdisciplinary approach to link ecotoxicology and physiology | 14.425.000 |
Social and Educational Sciences (30%)
Postdoctoral fellow | Institution | Title | ISK (Y1) |
Anton Lukashevich | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | Facial Crowds - Visual Codes | 14.750.000 |
Olanrewaju Femi Olagunju | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Digital Tools for Sustainable Aquaculture Planning: Enhancing Profitability and Commercialisation in Sub-Saharan Africa | 14.677.500 |
Magnús Örn Agnesar Sigurðsson | University of Iceland-School of Social Sciences | Anthropocene Civil Service | 14.714.000 |
Humanities and the Arts (21%)
Postdoctoral fellow | Institution | Title | ISK (Y1) |
Jeske Toorman | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Reference and Deference: New Experimental Investigations Into Linguistic Categories | 14.622.500 |
Ashley Keaton | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Developing linguistically-informed technology for cross-linguistic detection of speech and language disorders | 14.647.865 |
Romina Werth | Science Institute-University of Iceland | Unveiling Hálfdanar rímur Eysteinssonar: A Scholarly Analysis and Critical Edition | 14.749.155 |
Noemi Cubas Martin | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Revealing the Colours of Iceland A Spectroscopic Analysis of Natural Dyes in Icelandic Textiles from the Viking Age to the Present | 14.042.500 |
Isabella Clarke | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Afterlives of Tristan: Women and Love in the Medieval North | 14.750.000 |
Doctoral fellowships
A total of 124 application for doctoral fellowships were received and 23 funded, or 19%.
Physical Sciences and Mathematics (27%)
Doctoral student | Institution | Title | Durations (years) | ISK (Y1) |
Sigrún Elísa Eyjólfsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Cyclopropanated High-Energy Methanol-upgraded Fuel | 3 | 10.416.000 |
Raghavendra Kshirsagar | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Beyond The MFCI: A Modelling Approach For Jet and Plume Dynamics in Wet Eruptions | 3 | 10.416.665 |
Rafael Daníel Vias | Science Institute-University of Iceland | Bayesian rating curves with measurement uncertainty: Extending the generalized power-law model | 2 | 10.180.000 |
Engineering and technical science (17%)
Doctoral student | Institution | Title | Durations (years) | ISK (Y1) |
Gianmarco Dolino | Reykjavik University-Department of Engineering | METAspine - Patient-Specific Synthetic Models for Investigating Spinal Metastases | 3 | 9.531.500 |
Liang Tian | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Benchmarking Landscape Complexity Metrics Across Resolutions: A Scalable Workflow for U.S. and European Biodiversity Proxies | 1 | 10.416.660 |
Sara Camén | Reykjavik University-Department of Engineering | The Impact of Microplastics on Glacier Albedo and Melt Dynamics | 3 | 9.531.500 |
Hamed Davari | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | New empirical models of earthquake strong-motion parameters for engineering applications | 1 | 10.410.000 |
Natural and environmental sciences (20%)
Doctoral student | Institution | Title | Durations (years) | ISK (Y1) |
Gabrielle Marie Valerie Laduree | Hólar University | Space use, foraging, social systems, and personality in stream-dwelling salmonids | 1 | 10.416.660 |
Anna Bára Másdóttir | The Icelandic Institute of Natural History | Morphological and population genomic variation of the Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) in Iceland. | 1 | 10.410.000 |
Brynhildur Magnúsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Engineering and Natural Sciences | Population Biology and Conservation Genomics of the White-tailed Eagle in Iceland | 1 | 10.410.000 |
Life sciences (29%)
Doctoral student | Institution | Title | Durations (years) | ISK (Y1) |
Gabriele Boretti | Reykjavik University-Department of Engineering | 3D-Mec(Omic): Development of a mathematical model for predicting the maturity of 3D bioprinted cartilage using non-destructive multiomics analysis | 3 | 9.420.455 |
Vera Amanda Varis | University of Iceland-School of Health Sciences | The impact of angiogenic factors on breast cancer progression by applying 3D vascularized tumoroid model | 3 | 10.010.000 |
Clinical studies and public health (14%)
Doctoral student | Institution | Title | Durations (years) | ISK (Y1) |
Ida Maruotto | Reykjavik University-Department of Engineering | Age-aware Prediction of Knee Osteoarthritis | 3 | 9.531.500 |
Aníta Ósk Georgsdóttir | Reykjavík University-Department of Psychology | Enhancing Our Understanding of Cognitive Decline Through Neuropsychology and Machine Learning: A Multi-Modal Approach Using Icelandic and Swedish Databases | 3 | 9.531.500 |
Social and Educational Sciences (21%)
Doctoral student | Institution | Title | Durations (years) | ISK (Y1) |
Brittany Marie Repella | University of Iceland-School of Education | Nourish and Educate (Næra og Fræða) – Food skills, nutrition education and food insecurity | 2 | 10.325.000 |
Lóa Guðrún Gísladóttir | University of Iceland-School of Education | Building Better Futures by Strengthening Children's and Parents' Well-being: Evaluating the Impact of the Invest in Play Parenting Programme in Iceland | 3 | 9.990.000 |
Unnur Edda Garðarsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Education | “I just want to be loved by somebody” A critical analysis of the interplay between heteronormativity and romantic love in the reproduction and resistance against gender (in)equality in Iceland | 1 | 10.410.000 |
Ahmed Nawaz | University of Iceland-School of Social Sciences | Protected areas governance challenges in mountains of Northern Pakistan: Analysis of governance systems and delivery of equitable conservation and socio-economic development | 2 | 10.375.000 |
Guðrún María Þorsteinsdóttir | University of Iceland-School of Social Sciences | Living with uncertainty: How Grindavík residents navigate risk, relocation, and community without place | 3 | 10.410.000 |
Humanities and the Arts (14%)
Doctoral student | Institution | Title | Durations (years) | ISK (Y1) |
Gundega Skela | University of Iceland-School of Social Sciences | Reimagining Art Archives through Large Language Models: A Case Study of The Vasulka Chamber at the National Gallery of Iceland | 3 | 10.410.000 |
Xindan Xu | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | On the internal and external syntax of finite purpose clauses and result clauses in Icelandic | 2 | 10.410.000 |
Piergiorgio Consagra | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | Two Medieval Icelandic þættir as exempla: The Literary Diptych of Norna-Gests þáttr and Helga þáttr Þórissonar | 2 | 10.410.000 |
Jesper Greve Kristensen | University of Iceland-School of Humanities | In the Right: the concept of justice in far-right online spaces. | 3 | 10.416.500 |
The information published may include typos.