Ocean University of China (OUC) submitted a proposal to host the International Antarctic Institute (IAI) Secretariat by sending an email to all potential IAI contacts in June 20, 2024. Following this, seven representatives from six IAI Partner Institutions (PI) met during the 11th Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Open Science Conference (OSC) in Pucon, Chile, on August 25, to discuss the IAI future. The candidate secretariat from OUC (SOUC) organized an online meeting to introduce the application on May 15, 2025. In response to the suggestions from these meetings and according to the roles of the IAI Secretariat listed in IAI documents, SOUC proposea three-year (September 2025 to August 2028) work plan. Subsequently, in October 2025, Professor Wolfgang Rack (University of Canterbury, New Zealand), former IAI Secretariat Director, initiated a formal electronic vote among IAI member representatives. On November 6, Professor Rack notified via email that the vote had been approved, and OUC officially assumed the rotating secretariat of IAI.
