University of Oldenburg
The Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg () is a university located in Oldenburg, Germany. It is one of the most important and highly regarded educational facilities in northwestern Germany and specialises in interdisciplinary and sustainable development studies and renewable energy studies with focus on solar and wind energy. History. 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 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 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. University Profile. 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. As part of the Universities Excellence Initiative, the university was awarded a Cluster of Excellence for its initiative "Hearing4all". The cluster deals with research into the improvement of speech understanding in background noise and has a funding of €34 million. Cultural and political life. 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. Canteens. The Studentenwerk Oldenburg operates canteens both the Uhlhornsweg and the Wechloy campus. These are certified by the BIO seal since January 2004. In the main cafeteria at Uhlhornsweg, four different dishes are available every day, as well as side dishes. In addition, different pasta is served daily , and a selection of high quality, self-composable, courts, at slightly higher prices, is available at the Culinarium. In 2001, the cafeteria at Uhlhornsweg took first place in the taste category and ended up in second place overall at the German-wide canteen ranking done by UNICUM magazine. The following years, it steadily dropped, but in 2008, it managed to return to second place overall, and again become first ranked in the taste category. In addition to the canteens, the Studentenwerk operates a large cafeteria on Uhlhornsweg campus. In Wechloy, canteen and cafeteria are combined in the same area. International  partnerships. The first major cross-border cooperation was started in 1980 with the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. It has since then resulted in an especially far-reaching partnership, with several majors jointly offered by the two universities. The university participates in the ERASMUS programme, a partnership for student exchanges in Europe. It maintains cooperation agreements with 105 universities in 44 countries.