02.12.2024

DFG: Infrastructure Priority Programme “International Ocean Drilling Programme³ (IODP³)”

Deadline: 4 February 2025

In September 2024, the Senate of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) extended the Infrastructure Priority Programme “International Ocean Drilling Programme³ (IODP3)” (SPP 527) for another six years running from 2025 to 2030. The present call invites proposals for up to three years of project funding starting in 2025. The Priority Programme will publish a call for proposals each year.

Over more than 50 years, scientific ocean drilling programmes have significantly shaped our knowledge about our planet and the Earth system, and specifically improved our understanding of climate change, plate tectonics and marine geohazards. The “International Ocean Drilling Programme3 (IODP3)” is an international scientific ocean drilling programme under the joint lead of the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD) and Japan to be launched in January 2025. It is the follow-up programme of previous successful ocean drilling programmes: “Deep Sea Drilling Program” (1968–1983), “Ocean Drilling Program” (1985–2003), “Integrated Ocean Drilling Program” (2003–2013) and “International Ocean Discovery Program” (2013–2024), which had been running since 1968.

Scientific objectives of IODP3 are summarised in the new 2050 Science Framework (see link below), which defines seven Strategic Objectives for targeted investigations: (1) Habitability and Life on Earth, (2) The Oceanic Life Cycle of Tectonic Plates, (3) Earth’s Climate System, (4) Feedbacks in the Earth System, (5) Tipping Points in Earth’s History, (6) Global Cycles of Energy and Matter, and (7) Natural Hazards Impacting Society. The fulfilment of the 2050 Science Framework also requires long-term, multidisciplinary research efforts with multiple expeditions combining several Strategic Objectives in Flagship Initiatives. Compared to former science plans, the new 2050 Science Framework puts a stronger focus on the societal relevance of its Strategic Objectives and is more focused on processes in Earth system components and key interactions among them.

A new development is the implementation of land-to-sea (L2S) drilling projects jointly with the “International Continental Scientific Drilling Programme (ICDP)”. Such projects will help to achieve a holistic understanding of, for example, natural hazards, the interplay between fresh and seawater along coastlines, ice sheet dynamics and sea level change, or the formation of sustainable georesources.

SPP 527 provides opportunities for innovative research on data and cores from the above listed ocean drilling programmes, but also for the preparation of future expeditions or the development of drilling tools and software. Proposals submitted under SPP 527 must have a clear link to ongoing, past or future drilling projects.

Research projects funded under SPP 527 are presented at the annual joint ICDP/IODP³ colloquia. Networking is the key element of these colloquia.

Proposals must be written in English and submitted to the DFG by 4 February 2025.
Please note that proposals can only be submitted via elan, the DFG’s electronic proposal processing system.

The DFG strongly welcomes proposals from researchers of all genders and sexual identities, from different ethnic, cultural, religious, ideological or social backgrounds, from different career stages, types of universities and research institutions, and with disabilities or chronic illness. With regard to the subject-specific focus of this call, the DFG encourages female researchers in particular to submit proposals.

Further Information:
https://www.dfg.de/de/aktuelles/neuigkeiten-themen/info-wissenschaft/2024/ifw-24-111