Ideas for collaboration between RU and other universities in Iceland
The staff of Reykjavík University is encouraged to familiarize themselves with the University Cooperation Fund, which has been set up by the Minister of Higher Education, Industry, and Innovation. Staff is encouraged to come up with ideas for possible collaborative projects and to share them with their next supervisor or Dean within the next week.
The University Cooperation Fund is intended to encourage strong cooperation between all universities in Iceland and is part of promoting innovation and progress at the university level. In the minister's opinion, strong cooperation is a prerequisite for increasing the quality of higher education in Iceland. Up to one billion ISK will be allocated this year, 2022, and a similar amount in 2023.
When allocating grants, the following factors will be considered, among other things:
- Cooperation on increasing the quality of university education, especially at master's and doctoral levels, where students can increasingly take courses at more than one university, and teachers teach at more than one university.
- Funding for the development and implementation of the universities' joint enrollment portal through Island.is, as announced in August.
- Increased cooperation on the administration and support services of the schools to reduce overhead.
- Cooperation between universities, institutions, and companies on research infrastructure.
- Cooperation on increasing the number of students in health sciences, focusing on smartization and skills camps that ease internships within health institutions and facilitate increasing the number of students.
- Cooperation on increasing the number of students in educational sciences, i.a., with an emphasis on the education of preschool teachers and expanding the availability of professional higher education.
- Cooperation on increasing the focus on STEAM disciplines, i.e., science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics.
- Collaboration on learning regardless of location, especially with an increased emphasis on the availability of distance learning.
- Cooperation on increasing the number of international students, i.a., with the teaching of more subjects in English with the aim that more international students can complete their degree studies in Iceland.
- Cooperation to promote Icelandic and language technology.
