The Science Institute of the University of Iceland was founded in 1966. Since then the Instiute has been the main center of research in the Natural Sciences in Iceland with the exception of biology. The biologists have established an institute of their own. The Institute is adminstratively and financially separated from the University but functions as a research forum for the science faculty in other fields than biology. The governing board consists of the Heads of Divisions and a Chairman and is elected by the council of the Faculty of Science. Offices, libraries and lecture rooms are to a large extent shared by the University and the Institute which functions as an integral part of the Faculty of Science.
The Institute has 70 employees including technical and office staff. In addition 46 faculty members are affiliated with the Institute but draw their salaries from the University. A number of students is employed part time at the Institute and some are working on research projects for their master's degree.
In the year 1996 the total turnover of the Institute was 192 millions Ikr, roughly 2.8 million US dollars. The contribution to the budget from the Icelandic government was 129 millions, the rest coming from domestic and international research funds and companies collaborating with the Institute on various projects. The corresponding numbers for 1995 were 181 millions and 121 millions, respectively.
The main purpose of this annual report is to list and describe briefly the research projects that the staff members were engaged in during 1996. This is the first report of its kind so the description of the projects is not in a wholly uniform format. The scientific publications and the presentations given by the staff outside the University of Iceland are also listed as well as some websites. Some information was left out of the report on purpose, e.g.\ seminar activities within the University, nonscientific publications, administrative activities of the staff as well as foreign visitors.
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