GEST Director Awarded for her Contributions to the University of Iceland

It is an honour to announce that Dr. Irma Erlingsdóttir, Director of the Gender Equality Studies and Training programme (GEST) was awarded today by the Rector of the University of Iceland for her outstanding professional contributions to the University of Iceland. The award is for Irma's contributions to equality through her work in establishing the Gender Equality Studies and Training Programme in 2009, and her contribution as the Director of RIKK - Institute for Gender, Equality and Difference, since 2009. Furthermore, Irma is the project leader of the EDDA Research Center on critical contemporary research at the University of Iceland, which focuses on the politics of equality in the humanities and social sciences.

Irma has been at the forefront of large international research projects in the field of equality and contemporary studies. Last year she received, with her Nordic collaborators, a five-year grant to establish the research hub ReNEW – Reimagining Norden in an Evolving World. Its emphasis is on academic research about the Nordic region, as many nations look to the Nordic countries for their successes in the fields of equality, innovation, and well-being. Irma also participates in the interdisciplinary research project Nordic Branding, approaching the image of the Nordic countries from various perspectives. In addition to teaching, administration, and research, she is a member of the editorial board of the feminist journal NORA, as well as being on the advisory committee for the European Journal of Politics and Gender. Irma furthermore sits on the executive committee of RINGS – The International Research Association of Institutions of Advanced Gender Studies. She collaborates with universities and research centers in France, such as the Paris-based École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS). Irma has published numerous articles and book chapters on French contemporary literature and philosophy, as well as gender studies.

Irma was among the world's 100 most influential people in gender policy 2019 according to a list from Apolitical, a peer-to-peer learning and policy platform for governments and other public bodies.