The idea of creating an international, modern and complex center in the Danube Delta was born in 1994 and was supported by the Research Minister of that time, Dr. Doru Dumitru Palade.
► In 1995 a reunion between Palade Minister and the Commissioner for Science, Research and Development Mr. Edith Cresson, was held in Paris. Mr. Palade called for the European Commission to support the Center. The idea was accepted in principle, Ms. Cresson pointing out that in order to obtain CE support, a well-documented project that can be funded after a positive evaluation was needed. Following this visit, Minister Palade obtained from the local authorities in Murighiol (Murighiol Council Decision No. 20 / 18.10.1996) a land of approx. 15 hectares for the Danube Delta International Research Center, land that was given in administration of the NIRD-Biological Sciences.
► In 2006 the Murighiol Council reduced the area to 10 he. In time, the idea of creating a center in the Danube Delta was developed so that the center eventually became the "International Center for Advanced Studies of the Fluvial- Sea Systems".
► In 2006 an international meeting was organized in the Danube Delta, together with the US Corp of Engineers and other international experts in Europe, during which the concept of integrated river - delta - sea systems management was presented and accepted. Starting with 2006, annual international meetings have been held, which have allowed the structure of the idea of the International Center for Advanced Studies of River - Sea Systems as well as creating the White Paper of the Center (which is a Comprehensive and Multidisciplinary Scientific Program). The meetings were carried out with the financial and logistic support of the Romanian Government and the Romanian Academy. Thus, the initial version of the project has been transformed with the unconditional support of a large team of Romanian and international specialists and with the official support of the Romanian Government into the current concept of the project: International Center for Advanced Studies of River-Sea Systems - DANUBIUS-RI - distributed pan-European research infrastructure comprising 12 high-water systems in Europe, which will serve their better knowledge and thereby contribute to their sustainable management.
► In 2010, the Government of Romania starts financing the project implementation and the construction of the first module of the International Center for Advanced Studies at Murighiol (Nucleus Program for the Scientific Case; 2013-2014 - Sectoral Project for the ESFRI Application).
► In 2013, the DANUBIUS-RI project is designated as the Flagship Project of the SUERD (European Strategy for the Danube Region).
► Between 2013 and 2015, the concept continued to be developed through the DANCERS project "DANube macroregion: Capacity Building and Excellence in River Systems (basin, delta and sea)", European Commission under Framework Program 7. The project aims to develop a a strategic agenda for water research, development plans for a distributed research infrastructure in the Danube Region, as well as human resource development strategies by proposing education plans dedicated to this area. Thus, DANCERS has contributed to the development of Priority 7 "Development knowledge-based economy ".
► 2014: The Romanian Government has declared the DANUBIUS-RI project a "National Priority Strategic Project" and sent a letter of commitment to the EC and ESFRI (150m euro).
► In March 2015, under the coordination of the GeoEcoMar, the DANUBIUS-RI "International Center for Advanced Studies of River-Sea Systems" is submitted to ESFRI for admission to the ESFRI Roadmap 2016 (http://www.esfri.eu/sites/default/files/20160308_ROADMAP_single_page_LIGHT.pdf). INCDSB has being a partner.
► 2016: DANUBIUS-RI is included in the ESFRI (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructure) ESFRI Roadmap 2016.
► 2016: The HORIZON 2020 DANUBIUS-Preparatory Phase project is signed. The HORIZON 2020 DANUBIUS Preparatory Phase (PP) project aims to organize the pan-European legal entity DANUBIUS-ERIC. The overall coordination of the project is ensured by GeoEcoMar, and the consortium includes 29 other institutions. In Romania, beside INCDSB is part of it UEFISCDI and ROEDU, INCDSB being the coordinator of WP7.
► 2018: The support project "Strategy and Actions for Preparing the National Participation in the DANUBIUS-RI Project" – DANS was signed, a management support project that will prepare the Feasibility Study and the Technical Projects for the Romanian components of the DANUBIUS-RI project (Hub, Danube Delta Supersite, Data Center).