Department of Neuroscience and Health Technology
The department
Studies within the department integrate neuroscience, health sciences, engineering, computer science, psychology, biology, and data science. This offers students the opportunity to work across traditional academic boundaries and engage with topics where health and technology intersect.
International Collaboration
The department serves as an academic hub for European joint study programs developed in connection with NeurotechEU. This collaboration provides a platform for shared learning, teaching, and international experience in partnership with universities across Europe.
The European Master in Neurotechnology (EMN) will commence in the autumn of 2027. The program spans four academic tracks: Brain Systems, Clinical, Technology, and Computation. Ethical, Legal, and Societal Aspects (ELSA) are integrated throughout the curriculum. Students specialise in three of the four tracks. The EMN is a joint program offered by seven European universities; students select a home (starting) university and complete their third semester at a partner institution.
List of EMN partner universities
- Radboud University, Nijmegen, in the Netherlands
- Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche, Spain
- Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Germany
- Boğaziçi Üniversitesi, Istanbul in Turkey
- Université de Lille, France
- Universitatea de Medicină și Farmacie „Iuliu Hațieganu“, Cluj-Napoca, România.
NeurotechEU er bandalag tíu háskóla, þar á meðal Háskólans í Reykjavík, með Radboud, Karolinska Institutet, Bonn, Lille, Innsbruck, Cluj-Napoca, Miguel Hernández og Boğaziçi.
Practical Training
The Department is developing laboratories, equipment, and computing and data infrastructure for practical and research-oriented instruction. This infrastructure is intended as a shared resource that supports interdisciplinary study and collaboration within Reykjavík University.
Research
The research conducted by the department’s staff covers areas such as cognitive and applied psychology, sleep and neurodevelopment, behavioural neuroscience, and the analysis of stress and fatigue using physiological measurements and artificial intelligence. The department is new, and its research activities are currently under development.
Faculty
Scientists & tenured faculty
Department Chair
Kamilla Rún Jóhannsdóttir
Social Responsibility
The department supports the development of education, innovation, and interdisciplinary collaboration at the intersection of neuroscience, health sciences, data science, and technology. Through shared infrastructure and international partnerships, it lays the foundation for developing solutions and knowledge related to health and health technology.
An example of this is the European Master in Neurotechnology, a joint master’s program involving seven European universities.
Organization
Chair of the Department
The Dean of the Department serves as the executive head of the department and is responsible to the Rector for its operations and finances. On behalf of the Rector, the Dean appoints faculty and other staff members to the department. The Dean initiates the formulation of the department’s strategy and oversees its daily operations. The Dean prepares the department’s budget, which is then submitted for review to the RU Executive Board as part of the university’s overall budget. The Dean appoints a Department Council, convenes its meetings, and also holds regular department meetings.
Academic Council
The Academic Council consists of three department staff members, appointed at a department meeting for a one-year term; one of these members serves as the Chair.
The role of the Academic Council is to work with the Dean of the Department on the development of the academic program—including its structure, quality, the organisation of instruction, teaching methods, and student assessment—and to submit proposals to the department regarding these matters as necessary. Furthermore, the Academic Council manages agreements with the department’s partner institutions and companies concerning student internships. It also processes student requests regarding leaves of absence, the recognition of prior learning, and applications for internships and exchange programs.
Research Council
The role of the Council, in collaboration with the chair of the Department, is to foster research within the RU Department, both domestically and internationally. This includes, among other things:
- Formulating a research strategy for the Department. This strategy shall be developed in consultation with Department staff and established for two-year periods. The Research Council shall present the strategy to the Department meeting annually; at this same meeting, the results of the preceding year shall also be reviewed.
- Promoting research collaboration with domestic and international partners, in consultation with Department staff.
- Overseeing the evaluation of research activities within the Department and addressing the findings of such evaluations.
- Formulating a policy regarding research collaboration between faculty and students.
- Promoting the research activities conducted within the Department.
- Managing matters related to doctoral studies, in accordance with the doctoral program description for the RU Department.
- Collaborating with the RU Research Council.
- Three academic staff members are appointed at a Department meeting to serve on the Research Council for two-year terms. The Chair of the Department shall propose a candidate for the position of Chair of the Research Council to the Department meeting. Otherwise, the Research Council shall distribute tasks among its members and may establish its own rules of procedure, which shall provide further detail regarding the execution of the Council’s projects.
Student Representative
The student representatives for the 2027–2028 academic year are:
- To be announced later