The Bremen Core Repository (BCR), for International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP), Integrated Ocean Discovery Program (IODP), Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), and Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) cores from the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean and Black Seas and Arctic Ocean is operated at University of Bremen within the framework of the German participation in IODP. It is one of three IODP repositories (beside Gulf Coast Repository (GCR) in College Station, TX, and Kochi Core Center (KCC), Japan). One of the scientific goals of IODP is to research the deep biosphere and the subseafloor ocean. IODP has deep-frozen microbiological samples from the subseafloor available for interested researchers and will continue to collect and preserve geomicrobiology samples for future research. BCR presently contains more than 158 km of deep-sea cores from 90 expeditions in around 250,000 boxes (also see reports), which are sampled and analysed by national and international working groups. Around 200 scientists visit the repository annually, sometimes working on the cores in week-long sampling meetings. As many as 50,000 samples per year are removed from the cores by guests and by the repository staff. The repository is an important contact point for scientists from all over the world (more than 4,000 visitors so far) and therefore significantly contributes to the exchange and transfer of marine science knowledge in Bremen, leading to international co-operations and scientific interactions.
