The full form of UNOLS is University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System. It’s used on Associations & Organizations ,Professional Associations in United States

University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) is an organization of academic institutions and National Laboratories involved in oceanographic research and joined for the purpose of coordinating oceanographic ships’ schedules and research facilities.

The roots of UNOLS go back to the 1960’s often called the golden years of oceanography. There was an unprecedented growth in the marine sciences; existing labs were expanding; new labs were being established; and more and more research ships were putting to sea; and the sizes of the ships were increasing. The support of research ships and their operations was becoming big business. By 1970 there were 33 ships operated by 17 laboratories. Twelve of the ships were of a size invoking regulatory inspection (over 300 gross registered tons).

Three principal concerns began to emerge: (l) Investigators from non-operating labs were seeking a positive means of gaining access to ship time, even to the point of more labs acquiring more ships. Operators were willing to accommodate outside users but there was no orderly means of achieving it. (2) Federal supporting agencies, chiefly NSF and ONR, were concerned over the increasing costs of the vessels and the differing modes of operations and their funding. They also were acutely aware of (1) above. (3) The university ship operators saw a collision course between higher ship costs and increasing ship numbers on what was becoming a level funding field.

About this time, in 1969, the President’s Commission on Marine Science and Engineering (Stratton Commission) in its classic report included a recommendation for National Oceanographic Laboratories intended to be a partnership between federal agencies and academic institutions in a full range of research and supporting facilities. However, unlike other aspects of the Report (such as establishing NOAA and Sea Grant), it was not well defined. Viewed by federal agencies as “control”, and by academia as “send more money”, it did not progress very far. To NSF, however, it served as a possible means of bringing the academic research fleet together into a more coherent arrangement. First proposed as “NOLS” the plan contained provisions for coordinating and scheduling the fleet. University labs agreed with the goals of the arrangement but opposed the scheme as tilting toward excessive federal control. A joint group of federal and university administrators worked out a counter proposal for a University-NOLS which achieved the goals of community wide ship access, cooperative ship scheduling, standardized operations, and uniform funding arrangements, but remaining within the university sphere and to be coordinated by an association of labs designated as UNOLS.