About Us

Photo by M Arevalo
Photo by M Arevalo

By international agreement the Antarctic continent has been set aside for peace and scientific collaboration. As has been seen over the past half-century, international cooperation is the key to the success of large-scale research programs in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.

A meeting was held in Hobart in 2004 and the concept of a 'International Antarctic Institute' received unanimous support from the 30 participants from 19 institutions in 12 countries who attended. On 8 July 2006 the International Antarctic Institute came into being, and the Institiute began offering courses of study in 2007.

The University of Tasmania initially held the Secretariat which was responsible for the day to day operation of the developing Institute. It was envisaged that the Secretariat would rotate between member institutions after the IAI was developed. Currently the Secretariat resides with Gateway Antarctica, University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand.

If you wish to contact the Institute, or have any comments or questions, we welcome your input. 

Background Papers: Reports:
IAI Prospectus (.pdf, 733 KB) 2009 Status Report (.pdf, 950 KB)
Position Paper (.pdf, 12 MB) Report from the First Meeting

The IAI Council

The International Antarctic Institute Council is a body of delegates from Partner institutions and Associate Partners. The Council meest on a regular basis to discuss developments within the Institute. Meeting minutes and other relevant documents will be made available here.