Projects

The Centre will provide opportunities for faculty research (potentially funded by grants from outside research funds), doctoral and master level research and collaborated research with other departments of the University and external collaborators. 

Ongoing and future projects:

  • Creating and maintaining a research environment that facilitates research in clinical psychology in Iceland.
  • Continually enhancing the quality of the teaching and training within the University’s clinical psychology program and PhD program.
  • Guaranteeing high quality training to RU students in evidence-based methods in the field, and simultaneously supporting high quality psychological services to RU students.
  • Continuously offering education, training and supervision in up-to-date psychological methods that are based on the best available evidence; for example, by running workshops, seminars etc.

The following three research projects have already received funding:

Bright Light Therapy to Treat Cancer-Related Fatigue among Breast Cancer Patients undergoing Chemotherapy

This randomized clinical trial (RCT) assesses the effects of systematic bright white light (BWL) exposure on cancer related fatigue (CRF) among women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. The BWL treatment consists of a daily 30-minute exposure to as much as 10,000 lux of light. The efficacy of the BWL treatment is compared to placebo dim white light (DWL) treatment. Specific aims are: 1. Test whether BWL compared with DRL will result in less CRF. 2. Assess whether the BWL intervention affects sleep and psychological variables, which have been implicated as correlates/causes of CRF. 3. Determine whether the BWL intervention affects biological factors (cortisol, melatonin and immune function): 4 Explore whether the effects of BWL compared to dim red light (DRL) on fatigue are moderated/mediated by sleep quality, depression, biological, and/or chronobiological circadian activity rhythms. Two PhD students have been recruited for this project and 2-3 MSc students will be recruited.

Grants income by year for the project that has already received funding:

  • 2018: 49.813.000 ISK
  • 2019: 49.432.000 ISK
  • 2020: 49.892.000 ISK

Concussions among Icelandic athletes: A multi-component study.

The study started in January 2018 and will be completed in 2021.

The study has two major goals: 1) Concussion incidence among Icelandic male and female athletes will be monitored for 24 months. 2) Concussion history and its relationship to hypopituitarism, neuropsychology, mental health, EEG and cervical spine integrity in concussed female elite athletes will be examined. The post-concussion syndrome is not a unified construct and multi-component studies that 10

address the many possible causes of concussion sequelae are needed. Further, hypopituitarism is common in concussed males but has hardly been studied in females. Ph.D. students in the project are two, one at Reykjavík University and one at the University of Iceland. Two MSc students using data from the study will graduate in June 2019. A MS student in statistics at the University of Iceland is using data from the study for his thesis. One MS student is scheduled to participate in the EEG part of the study, starting in August 2019 and at least one other MSc student at the RU will participate, starting next fall.

Grants income by year for the project that has already received funding:

  • 2017: 920.000 ISK
  • 2018: 5.533.000 ISK
  • 2019: 13.800.000 ISK

Development and evaluation of a cognitive behavioural treatment for persistent physical symptoms that cause work disability

The aim of this three-year project is to adapt and further develop a novel Hybrid-Transdiagnostic Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (HTCBT) for persistent physical symptoms (PPS) that cause work disability and evaluate this treatment in a Randomised Controlled Trial comparing HTCBT to treatment as usual. Participants will be 250 people with PPS seeking work rehabilitation from VIRK Vocational Rehabilitation Fund. The result from this study will form a part of Sigrún Ólafsdóttir’s PhD thesis at the University of Reykjavík. In addition, two master students will be involved in the project.

Grants income by year for the project that has already received funding:

  • 2019: 12.843.000 ISK
  • 2020: 16.211.000 ISK
  • 2021: 15.814.000 ISK

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