icecube is part of a series of projects developed and supervised by the university of wisconsin–madison. collaboration and funding are provided by numerous other universities and research institutions worldwide. construction of icecube was only possible during the antarctic austral summer from november to february, when permanent sunlight allows for 24-hour drilling. construction began in 2005, when the first icecube string was deployed and sufficient data was collected to verify that the optical sensors functioned correctly. in the 2005–2006 season, an additional eight strings were deployed, making icecube the largest neutrino telescope in the world.