Research projects

The project is focused on building an extensive database on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), lifestyle, and pain among the general population in Iceland.

The biotechnological development of purple phototrophic bacteria (PPB) focuses on resource recovery from waste sources, contributing to a circular bioeconomy. PURPLEGAIN aims to create a European network to share information, facilitating technology and knowledge transfer between the academic and industrial sectors, related to PPB applications for resource recovery from organic waste sources. Resource recovery includes wastewater or organic waste, open or closed environments, in single or chain processes. The network associates fundamental-focused and applied-research groups, improving lab-scale technology optimization through mechanistic modeling. It benefits the technology transfer from applied-research groups to industry, considerably improving process design.

Lava tube caves are host to a fascinating microbiota that grows in mats or crusts sometimes visible to the naked eye. The biogeochemistry of these microbes, including their adaptational response to these oligotrophic environments, potential roles in speleothem formation and biogeochemical cycling of basalt components. Furthermore, Icelandic lava tubes make for attractive planetary analogues for astrobilogical studies, as they share many features with comparable cave systems in other rocky planets where life may have subsisted in the past.

The plant pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas syringae is generally not found in the endothallic microbiota of lichens, except those of the genus Peltigera. This has led us to wonder whether Peltigera lichens can be regarded as natural reservoirs for this plant pathogen. Preliminary analysis indicates, however, that the Peltigera-associated P. syringae population is of a distinct haplotypical composition, indicating a community that may be adapted to this unusual host.

Betula pubescens Ehrh. (mountain birch) is the only forest-forming tree in Iceland. Since human settlement (874 AD), the continuous 25,000-30,000 km² forest has shrunk to 1.200 km² of fragmented patches, making it a good object to study population genetic consequences of habitat fragmentation and disturbance. Further, genetic studies have also shown that hybridization between the tetraploid (2n=56) B. pubescens and the diploid (2n=28) Betula nana L. (dwarf birch) occurs among Iceland’s natural populations. This project assesses the genetic variation within and among birch forests remaining across Iceland. Information on the distribution of genetic variation of birch in Iceland is essential for its conservation and to establish genotype-phenotype associations to predict responses to new environmental conditions imposed by climate change and novel biotic/abiotic stressors.

Ecological genomics encompasses ecology, genomics, and evolutionary biology, and utilizes genomic approaches to address consequential ecological questions.

With the advent of culture-independent, NGS-based microbial community analysis, environmental microbiology has opened up to research...

Lichens are defined as the specific symbiotic structure comprising a fungus and a green alga and/or cyanobacterium.

The Arctic plays a key role in Earth's climate system and is a geographical area of growing strategic importance for European policy. In the Horizon2020-funded MSC-ITN MicroArctic, the next generation of Arctic microbiology and biogeochemistry experts are trained. The project will provide these future experts with a unique understanding of the fast changing Arctic environment and the factors that impact ecosystem and organism response to the warming Arctic. They will thus be able to respond to the need for governance and leadership in various aspects related to public, policy and commercial interests.

The SGI is a platform built on a cross-national survey of governance that identifies reform needs in 41 EU and OECD countries. The SGI brings together a broad network of experts and practitioners aiming to understand what works best in sustainable governance. Advocating the exchange of best practices, we offer full access to our data set and enable the comparisons that generate innovation in governance.

The aim of the project is is to increase knowledge of the situation with women who experience perinatal distress during pregnancy and childbirth and effect from dissatisfaction in partner relationship and weak social support from family and friends.

The State of the Arctic Marine Biodiversity Report identifies trends in key marine species and points to important gaps in biodiversity monitoring efforts across key ecosystem components in: sea ice biota, plankton, benthos, marine fishes, seabirds and marine mammals. Changes in these species are likely to indicate changes in the overall marine environment.

The group’s aim is to research and describe the psychological process and experiences of natural childbirth. To answer the research question: What is the psychological experience of natural childbirth like and what are its components. The project started by systematic-reviewing of published scientific papers on women’s experiences of normal or natural childbirth.

The Sea Around Us is an international research initiative at the University of British Columbia. The Sea Around Us assesses the impact of fisheries on the marine ecosystems of the world and offers mitigating solutions to a range of stakeholders.

The work of midwives endures as a rewarding job, as midwives support women to bring their children into the world. On the other hand a number of serious complications can arise in the process of birth that test the fortitude of midwifes. The main aim of this study is to determine whether adverse events during birth impact the wellbeing and work of midwives in Iceland and if so, what those impacts are.

In this project we investigate the historical variation in abundance of Icelandic cod (Gadus morhua). The Icelandic cod stock has been the main source of income in Iceland for centuries. A good understanding of the dynamics affecting the fluctuations in the stock are therefore important. Arguably it is especially important now with rapid climate changes and probable changes in the marine ecosystems following.

Some recent research has shown that births attended by midwives result in positive outcomes. The latest guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE, 2014) on Intrapartum care for healthy women and babies recommends, among other practices, that care should be provided by midwives and that low risk environments for intrapartum should be promoted. It is acknowledged that care provision for low risk women in high risk environments results in increased economic costs as well as having an impact on women’s health.

The focus of our research for the past ten years has been on the production of second-generation biofuel for lignocellulosic biomass using thermophilic bacteria isolated from Icelandic hot springs. Lately, our interest has spread to the utalization of macroalgae for the biological production of biofuels and high-value chemical buildings blocks. There is an increased interest in using thermophilic bacteria for the production of bioethanol from complex lignocellulosic biomass due to their higher operating temperatures and broad substrate range.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) remains the leading cause of death and disability in Europe and is strongly related to lifestyle factors. However, previous European studies show that a large proportion of individuals with CHD do not achieve the recommended lifestyles, risk factor management and therapeutic levels, which can slow or reverse the disease process. It is not known to what extent Icelandic patients achieve standards for secondary prevention. A comprehensive profile of this population, including both clinical data and patient reported outcome measures has not been studied before in Iceland, but is needed to determine where interventions should be targeted.

In parallel to our research on biofuels, we have also pioneered studies on the production of branched-chain and long-chain alcohols (BCOHs and BCFAs) from amino acids by thermoanaerobes. Revising Orlygsson PhD work led to our discovery that branched-chain alcohols are a major fermentation product from branched-chain amino acids by thermophilic bacteria under very specific conditions. Electron scavenging is possible by either using thiosulfate as an electron sink or by growing the amino acid degrading thermophile in a co-culture with a hydrogenotrophic methanogen.

An increased need for nursing homes has followed the increased number of elderly and this might have changed the profile of the people who get admitted to such homes. The project has three main aims. The first aim is to look at health status and functional profile of the residents at admission, with special emphasis on the comparison of residents with and without diabetes. The second aim is to analyse survival after admission to the nursing homes, comparing two periods, i.e. before and after a nursing home regulation change in 2008.

Cheese whey represents an important source of environmental pollution due to its enormous global production rate and high organic matter content. One good method to deal with whey pollution is its bioconversion to ethanol employing yeast, especially Kluyveromyces species. The only fermentable sugar in whey is the disaccharide lactose which means that wild type Saccharomyces yeasts cannot degrade it because they do not have β-galactosidase. Apart from lactose, whey also contains vitamins and minerals which may improve the physiological activity of the cells.

The fastest growing population is older adults. According to population projections it is expected that in the year 2065, over 20% of all Icelanders will be ≥ 65 years and greater proportion of residents are ≥ 65 years in rural areas. Previous studies have shown that residents in rural areas in Iceland have less education, lower income, more health problems or diagnosed diseases and greater depressive symptoms compared to urban residents. The frequency of diseases in older adults is high and costly. There is a lack of research of older adults and those living remotely. ­

We study the general oceanography of the seas around Iceland and the currents of the North Atlantic, investigating the effects of climate variability and oceanic conditions on biological resources. The Nordic Seas (Greenland, Iceland and Norwegian seas) is the main region where Atlantic water is transformed into a water mass that is dense enough to feed the North Atlantic deep water and the Iceland Sea is considered an important part of the North Atlantic climate system.

Labour pain has largely been defined in midwifery or medical terms, and most research to date has been about its relief. However, recent research has found that women describe a complex relationship with labour pain that includes positive and welcoming views. Pain relief is an important option, but has attendant side-effects that affect labour.

Chronic pain affects people all over the world. Some research estimates it up to 50% in the normal population. Chronic pain is a complex combination of mixed symptoms with various causes and consequences. Most common sites of the body affected by pain are the back, head and joints Several research results indicate that pain management programmes at rehabilitation units can be effective for those who are ready to make changes in their lives. Most common pain sites among those who attend rehabilitation programmes seems to be disabling pain (e.g. extremity pain, widespread pain, headaches, somatoform pains) in the lower limbs and low back pain of some kind, and fibromyalgia.

ESPON BRIDGES focuses on how ‘spatially blind’ policies, different types of market failures and path dependencies lead to a sub-optimal use of human and natural resources in TGS.