Planning of the Polar Year 2007/08 (IPY: International Polar Year)

Until December 15, 2003: Throughout the first planning stage, national and international IPY commissions collected ideas and suggestions for IPY research programmes and projects and submitted them to the ICSU IPY Planning Group.  A total of 30 proposals from German institutions were submitted to the planning group, many of them outlining a multidisciplinary approach spanning fields of biology, geosciences, glaciology, oceanography, and climate research. Together with proposals from other countries and international committees, these suggestions were discussed and evaluated by the ICSU IPY Planning Group in order to develop an overarching framework for the implementation of the IPY.

Until March 15, 2004: During the second stage, additional ideas and suggestions for IPY research programmes and projects were submitted to the ICSU IPY Planning Group via national and international IPY committees. Overall, German research institutions submitted a total of 40 proposals to the ICSU IPY Planning Group.

Early April 2004: During its third meeting, the ICSU IPY Planning Group produced a preliminary Outline Science Plan (OSP), based on the total of 350 project submissions, and the results of a first IPY Discussion Forum (held March 31, 2004). This OSP was subsequently introduced and discussed at IPY sessions of various major scientific conferences and workshops, such as the ASSW Reykjavik, EGU Nice, AGU Montreal and SCAR Bremen.

September 13/14, 2004: For the second IPY Discussion Forum in Paris, the IPY Planning Group had invited representatives of national IPY commissions and international committees to advance further the implementation of the IPY.

Late September 2004: The planning group met one last time to finalise the science plan. The science plan was integrated into an IPY Framework document outlining the IPY implementation. Delivery of this framework document to the ICSU and WMO completed the assignment of the IPY Planning Group. In the meantime, both ICSU and WMO have nominated and confirmed representatives for the IPY Joint Committee. This body will now oversee the international coordination of the IPY.

January 14, 2005: Submission deadline for 'Expressions of Intent' (EoI) for internationally coordinated IPY projects. These proposal summaries were evaluated and ranked by the IPY Joint Committee.

Late March 2005: The IPY Joint Committee has assigned most of the 900 EoI submissions to categories of approximately 50 so-called 'Cluster/Lead Projects' within which coordination of contributing individual projects will be advanced to the next level.

June 30, 2005: First submission deadline for extended proposals of coordinated Cluster/Lead Projects to the IPY Joint Commission. The Joint Commission offered September 30, 2005 and January 15, 2006 as additional closing dates for projects requiring more coordination time. Information and application forms can be found on the official IPY website.

The German IPY Commission requested all authors of EoIs associated with German institutions to send a two-page project summary (in German) to its office before July 5, 2005. These summaries will be used during negotiations with funding institutions to assess logistical and increased financial demands of German projects and collaborations in IPY programmes. Late submissions of project summaries will still be accepted, however, they may not be integrated into the overall evaluation.

All major information concerning the IPY planning progress can be found on the official IPY website at www.ipy.org. In addition, the current version of the IPY Framework, compilations and texts of all 'Expressions of Intent', as well as project designations within proposed groups can be viewed and downloaded also.

Duration of the International Polar Year: March 1, 2007 - March 1, 2009