Awards

SAF and ITRC Dissertation Award

The Icelandic Travel Industry Association (SAF) and the ITRC annually assign two dissertation awards in recognition of an outstanding dissertation on tourism produced by a student/students of an Icelandic University. The dissertation awards are assigned at SAF‘s annual meeting.

One award ISK 200.000 for a master’s thesis of at least 30 ECTS credits
One award ISK 100.000 for a bachelor’s thesis.

ITRC invites nominations in January each year from faculties of Icelandic universities for these awards from the prior year. Nominated theses are required to be exceptional and conforming to accepted disciplinary standards. Nominations must be sent to Eyrún Jenný Bjarnadóttir [ejb@rmf.is].

The winners are chosen by a panel consisting of one board member from ITRC, one member from SAF and one ITRC staff member. The panel evaluates nominations based on:

Contribution of the research to innovation in Icelandic tourism
Clarity of research objectives and research questions
Depth and scope of the subject matter
Research quality and presentation of findings
Thesis structure, quality of text and coherence

Due to possible conflict of interests, advisors of nominated theses cannot be eligible as panel members. The panel reserves the right to decline nominations if they do not fulfil the aforementioned requirements.

Those awarded since the start:

2023: Guðný Ljósbrá Hreinsdóttir [MS] (in English)

2022: Stephanie Langridge [MS] (in English) ; Lilja Karen Kjartansdóttir [BS] (in Icelandic)

2021: Michaël Bishop [MS] (in English) ; Tanja Sól Valdimarsdóttir [BS] (in Icelandic)

2020: Íris Sigurðardóttir [MS] ; Elva Dögg Pálsdóttir & Sólveig Hulda Árnadóttirir [BA] (in Icelandic)

2019: Kristján Alex Kristjánsson (in Icelandic)

2018: Daði Már Steinsson and Grétar Ingi Erlendsson (in Icelandic)

2017: Jónína Lýðsdóttur (in Icelandic)

2016: Berglind Ósk Kristjánsdóttir (In Icelandic)

2015: Willem Tims (In English)

2014: Paavo Olavi Sonninen (In Icelandic)

2013: Berghildur Fanney Hauksdóttir (In Icelandic)