University of Oldenburg

The Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg (German: Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg) is a university located in Oldenburg, Germany.

The first teachers training was held in Oldenburg as early as 1793, launched by Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig. A garden seminar for teachers training was created in 1882. During the Weimar Republic, the establishment of the Pedagogical Academy (Pädagogische Akademie) in Oldenburg in 1929 enabled the vocational training of teachers. On 1 October 1945, the institution reopened in postwar Germany. In 1948 it was renamed the Pedagogical College Oldenburg (Pädagogische Hochschule Oldenburg).

The first step towards the university was taken on 23 February 1959 with the decision of the city council to launch a university project, which was followed in 1970 with the Memorandum establishing the University of Oldenburg from the Minister of Culture of Lower Saxony. The Landtag of Lower Saxony decided to integrat the former Pedagogig Seminar (Pädagogische Hochschule) into the University. The university was finally founded in 1973. Enrollment and teaching started in the summer semester of 1974, with an education curriculum for 2,400 students in eight diploma courses. In 1991, the university was officially named after pacifist, writer and Nobel laureate Carl von Ossietzky, having been denied to take on his name by previous (both left-leaning and right-leaning) state governments. That same year, the number of students passed the mark of 10,000. The eleven departments of the university were reorganized into five faculties in 2002. By the end of 2011, there were about 11,325 students.

In 2012, the university founded the faculty of medicine and health sciences, introducing a 12-semester course in human medicine, which leads up to the German state examination, Staatsexamen, a prerequisite to practice as a physician. The new faculty is part of the European Medical School Oldenburg-Groningen (EMS), a cooperation between the University of Oldenburg, the University of Groningen (Netherlands), and local hospitals.

The university offers 95 courses of study. Due to the Bologna Process, in 2004 Oldenburg adopted Bachelor and Masters degrees in place of the former Diplom and Magister. One main focus of the university is teacher training, which was established during the 1970s and remains a strong presence with master's degrees in teaching offered in all faculties. The PhD program Didactical reconstruction is especially renowned, as is the research in sustainable development, encompassing several academic disciplines. The university is also allowed to confer Doctorates and oversee Habilitations.

The campus is split into two locations, the major one being Uhlhornsweg, where the main library, the mensa and the administration along with most of the departments is housed. Having used the buildings of the former teaching college during the first years, the main buildings of the university were inaugurated in 1982, with ongoing extensions since then, including the main lecture hall in 2001. The Wechloy campus, also first opened in 1982, is home to the studies of natural sciences as well as the library of natural sciences.

The Studentenwerk of the University organizes the cultural bureau UNICUM and the theatre since 1985. UNICUM includes theatrical groups from the university as well as freelancers. The group Gegenlicht runs a cinema in the Old Aula and on campus during the summer, while the programme zwergWERK is focused on the presentation of short films.

As in other German universities, the AStA is the most important organ of student representation. It administers the public transport tickets for the student body, offers several forms of student loans and organizes festivities. In addition, the AStA is continually involved in campaigns concerning university policy and social activism.