Agricultural University of Iceland

Roles and Objectives
The Agricultural University of Iceland (AUI) was founded on 1 January 2005. It is an educational and research institution in the field of agriculture and environmental sciences. The main focus is on the conservation and sustainable use of land and animal resources, including traditional agriculture, horticulture and forestry, environmental planning, restoration sciences, rural development and sustainable development.

The AUI awards B.Sc. degrees in these fields, and is entitled to award both M.Sc. and PhD degrees as well as providing vocational and continuing education.

The overall objective of AUI is to pursue high quality education in its academic fields supported by competitive nationally and internationally oriented research programs provided by competent and dedicated staff. AUI should also be an active participant in sustainable development of the Icelandic society and represent the country in the global forum in its academic fields.

Co-operation and agreements with other universities
There is a formal co-operation between the agricultural and veterinary Universities of the Nordic Countries (NOVA Network) with joint courses being offered and a mutual recognition of coursework. Currently joint M.Sc. programs are being developed in soil science, forestry and other fields. In addition the Nordic Universities offer joint Ph.D. courses in many fields. AUI has, for example been an activie participant in a PhD course in Plant Breeding since 1974, hosting this course twice.

Furthermore, there are formal agreements with other universities, such as Guelph University (Canada), Ålborg University, Denmark, University of Tromsö, Norway, Purdue University, Italy and Ohio State University, USA and other agreements are currently being formalized. Students that have graduated from the AUI have received full recognition abroad for their
coursework undertaken at the AUI.