The university's campus newspaper is celebrating its birthday. Over five decades, it has constantly evolved - and is one of the few university newspapers to have been published under the same name for over 50 years without interruption.

The official founding of the University of Oldenburg was just four months ago, when the first issue of UNI-INFO was published on 11 March 1974, three weeks before the start of the first semester. The publication served "as an internal university newsletter, a calendar of events and a discussion forum", explained the press office at the time, which still publishes the campus newspaper today. The first issue was also the longest to date - it comprised an impressive 48 pages. However, the news value of issue 1/74 was limited, as the content was restricted to the university's first university charter. In the very first paragraph, the founding committee had formulated the wish to be allowed to name the university after Carl von Ossietzky. This request was initially turned down by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science - the beginning of a long-standing name dispute that would not end until 1991.

By February 2024, 576 issues of UNI-INFO had been published - a valuable chronicle with lots of information and stories from research, teaching, studies, further education and the campus. The university newspaper is available in many places at the university and is also published online. It is now celebrating its 50th birthday, making it almost as old as the university itself. This makes UNI-INFO one of the few university newspapers in Germany that has been published continuously for over 50 years and always under the same name.

Otherwise, the newspaper has changed considerably over the decades. In the beginning it was published weekly or more frequently, but now it is published four times a year. In turn, the issues have become longer and longer: in the beginning - after the special first issue - there were just two pages, today there are twelve. The lead deserts of the 1970s became texts illustrated with pictures and graphics, and black and white images became colour images. The font and format have also changed several times. UNI-INFO has long since relinquished its role as a discussion forum and calendar of events to more flexible online formats. But of course there are still interviews, background reports and features - the university newspaper is still a central medium for communication on campus at the University of Oldenburg. Information and reports on key programme items from the anniversary year are a must - UNI-INFO does justice to this with a dedicated topic page in every issue.