One of the important impulses towards the signing of the Antarctic Treaty was the international scientific cooperation in Antarctica during the 1957-58 International Geophysical Year (IGY). The positive experience of establishing scientific bases across the Antarctic continent and carrying out all kinds of research activities without being hampered by the unsolved questions concerning the sovereignty over the territory undoubtedly contributed to the conclusion of the Antarctic Treaty the next year.

Fifty years later, there is a new wave of international scientific cooperation in the polar regions under the banner of the International Polar Year 2007 - 2008. This could actually be considered the Fourth IPY; the IGY was preceded by the International Polar Years of 1882-3 and 1932-3.

In order to have full and equal coverage of both the Arctic and the Antarctic, IPY 2007- 2008 covers two full annual cycles from March 2007 to March 2009 and involves over 200 projects, with thousands of scientists from over 60 nations examining a wide range of physical, biological and social research topics.