The International Ocean Discovery Program is in Phase II (tenured 2013-2023) of what was formerly known as the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program – Phase I. Envisioned in 2003 as a ten-year Earth science and research program, Integrated Ocean Drilling Program was built on the scientific results of the Deep-Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) initiated in 1968 and the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), which succeeded the DSDP in 1985, and the encouragement provided by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to international cooperation in marine scientific research.

Phase I of IODP ceased in October 2013, after which its 26 participating nations have continued collaboration through the International Ocean Discovery Program: Exploring the Earth under the sea.

For more information, visit http://www.iodp.org/history