The President of Iceland's Innovation Award is presented annually to students who have demonstrated outstanding work on a project funded by the Icelandic Student Innovation Fund.

The award was first presented in early 1996 and has since been awarded every year at a ceremony at Bessastaðir. All students who submit a final report before the advertised deadline are considered for the award.

Each year, the board of the Icelandic Student Innovation Fund selects around 10-15 projects worked on during the year as outstanding projects. Of these, 5-6 projects are then chosen as exemplary projects and are nominated for the President of Iceland's Innovation Award. The board of the Student Innovation Fund bases its assessment of the projects on the evaluation of the fund's five expert panels:

• Expert panel in the field of health sciences,

• Expert panel in the field of engineering, technology and physical sciences,

• Expert panel in the field of natural and environmental sciences,

• Expert panel in the field of humanities, and

• Expert panel in the field of social sciences

Award-winning projects from recent years:

• 2026 - Groundwater Mapping on the Reykjanes Peninsula

  • Alexandra K. Hafsteinsdóttir, geology student at the University of Iceland.

• 2025 - Bioinformatic analysis of the cellular cold shock response

  • Valdimar Sveinsson, medical student at the University of Iceland

Earlier award-ceremony announcements available here (in Icelandic)