14.11.2025

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

Deadline: 4 February 2026

In September 2024, the Senate of the Deutsche Forschungs-gemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) extended the Infrastructure Priority Programme “International Ocean Drilling Programme (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 2026. The Priority Programme will publish an open 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 Programme (IODP³)” is an international scientific ocean drilling programme under the joint lead of the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD) and Japan. 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, 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. The next colloquium is scheduled for 9 to 11 March 2026 at the University of Münster in Münster. Further details will be announced on the German IODP³ website.

Please submit your proposal to the DFG by 4 February 2026.

Further information: https://www.dfg.de/de/aktuelles/neuigkeiten-themen/info-wissenschaft/2025/ifw-25-88