By naming itself after Carl von Ossietzky, the University of Oldenburg underlined science's responsibility towards society and the role of science in public discourse. This commitment remains vital to the university's identity today. The University of Oldenburg is a young university which since its founding in 1973 has contributed to the economic and cultural advancement of Germany's Northwest region. Strengthening the region as a centre of science and research is also the declared aim of its close cooperation with the University of Bremen.

The university has set itself the goal of combining and enhancing scientific excellence and first-rate teaching for the coming years. The foundation has already been laid, with internationally visible, interdisciplinary research, its targeted promotion of young researchers and its complete conversion to Bachelor and Master degrees.

Research at the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg

Oldenburg University is a centre of research with national and international appeal. All academic fields have developed concise criteria for excellence, organised according to quality, effectiveness, efficiency and originality and in compliance with international standards. The university creates space for scientific networking within the university and beyond. Interdisciplinarity and social responsibility are identity forming hallmarks of research in Oldenburg, which influence the advancement of methods and quality factors for this kind of research. Scientific networking also leads to an efficient transfer of research results into teaching.

Focal points of top-level research have been established in all faculties. The university has a number of research groups and is involved in the formation of European research clusters through its collaborative research centers (in German).

The University of Oldenburg may claim to be among the leading universities in Germany when it comes to migration studies, intercultural education and gender studies. Since 1982, it successfully runs interdisciplinary migration studies programmes, namely in intercultural education (with several hundred graduates and proven employability) and more recently the BA programme for highly qualified migrants, unique in German higher education as a new tool to prevent de-qualification through migration.

These programmes are run by the Centre for Migration, Education and Cultural Studies (CMC), bringing together academics from educational sciences, cultural studies, linguistics and social sciences. Further centres at the university represent fields intersecting with migration studies: the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Women and Gender (ZFG), the Centre for Environmental and Sustainability Research (COAST), and the Centre for South-North Cooperation in Educational Research and Practice (ZSN), all considering gender and intercultural relations as cross cutting issues. Key staff teaching in European Master in Migration and Intercultural Relations (EMMIR) is closely related to all mentioned centres.

The University of Oldenburg's specific expertise is in global migration includes migration history, migration and gender, research methods for intercultural contexts and in diversity education and social work, civil society and citizenship, racism and discrimination. It will contribute specific, state of the art foundational modules plus an academic environment offering students a wide range of pertinent possibilities for orientation and networking. Students have the opportunity to orient themselves in all four specialisation areas during the first semester, while the modules offered by partners in the subsequent semesters provide advanced perspectives and in depth variations.

EMMIR is based at the the School of Linguistics and Cultural Studies (in German). A variety of research centered Master programs are offered by the institutes in the same faculty, which secures the high quality of both curriculum and scholars in English and German.