The Icelandic government announced yesterday that it will triple its funding for research and teaching at the University of Iceland.
The huge leap in funds is part of an effort to make the University of Iceland “one of the best in the world,” stated the agreement signed yesterday by the Ministry of Education and the University. Fréttabladid reports.
The agreement states that the University of Iceland will receive increased funding by a yearly sum of ISK 640 million (EUR 6.9 million, USD 8.9 million) between 2008 and 2011. After this initial period, funding will increase by 3.5 percent every year.
The new agreement puts new emphasis on research. At present, research receives less than half of the funding that goes into teaching; by 2011 research will receive more funding than teaching.
Minister of Education Thorgerdur Katrín Gunnarsdóttir and the president of the University of Iceland, Kristín Ingólfsdóttir, signed the agreement yesterday and afterwards presented it at a special ceremony at the university.
