Icelandic rectors reject claims EU grants buy academic loyalty

Six Icelandic university rectors have rejected claims that European Union research grants buy the loyalty of academics, arguing in a submitted article published by mbl.is that the funding reflects research quality and benefits Icelandic society.

The article responds to a recent piece in Morgunbladid claiming that supporters of the “Yes” position had accepted EU funding and that the European Union had thereby purchased the loyalty of the academics who secured the grants. The rectors say that conclusion is wrong.

They argue that research findings are often viewed with suspicion when studies are directly financed by interested parties, since unfavourable results could theoretically be withheld. However, they say the funding under discussion comes from the EU’s general, exchange, innovation and research programmes, which are open to competition.

All Icelandic universities, along with various institutions and companies, have received such grants. Iceland has also for years been among the countries making the greatest use of opportunities for student and staff exchanges through European cooperation. Icelandic researchers in all academic fields have successfully competed for international European research funding, the rectors write.

They say domestic and international grants finance projects that have passed professional assessments by independent experts. In the research community, grants are awarded based on the quality of ideas, the ability of research teams and the likelihood that projects will produce new knowledge. The same applies to Icelandic and international funds, they say.

The performance of Icelandic researchers in international competitive funds is one of the clearest measures of their international competitiveness, according to the article. Researchers who receive funding from Horizon Europe or other international competitive funds have convinced an international evaluation panel that their work compares with the best research in their fields.

Icelandic authorities also provide additional funding to universities that secure international grants, in a system similar to that used in countries Iceland seeks to compare itself with, the rectors write.

They point to the limited capacity of domestic funding. Last year, the Rannís Research Fund, Iceland’s main competitive fund for basic research, received 381 valid applications. Only 64 projects received funding, representing less than 17 percent of applications.

Although the Research Fund plays a key role in Icelandic science, it cannot by itself finance the research activity Icelandic society needs, the rectors say. International grants are therefore a necessary addition to domestic funding, and without them scientific work in Iceland would be significantly poorer.

The rectors conclude that foreign research grants are not signs of loyalty to particular political views. They are recognition of the professional quality of research and researchers’ ability to compete internationally, they say, adding that this success allows Iceland’s university community to remain at the forefront and benefits Icelandic society as a whole.

The signatories are Áslaug Ásgeirsdóttir, rector of the University of Akureyri; Kristín Eysteinsdóttir, rector of the Iceland University of the Arts; Ólína Kjerúlf Þorvarðardóttir, rector of Bifröst University; Ragnheiður I. Þórarinsdóttir, rector of the Agricultural University of Iceland; Ragnhildur Helgadóttir, rector of Reykjavík University; and Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir, rector of the University of Iceland.