The "PLARnet" project will be funded by the European Social Fund, the state of Lower Saxony and the university for two years from 1 October 2016: A central "Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition Service" (PLAR Service) is to be set up at the University of Oldenburg in co-operation with the educational counselling centres in the region to advise and support prospective students and students who would like to have their competences acquired outside of higher education credited towards university degree programmes.

Under the academic leadership of Prof. Dr Olaf Zawacki-Richter (Faculty I and C3L), Dr Christiane Brokmann-Nooren and Anno Stockem (C3L), Dr Wolfgang Müskens ("Competence Area Recognition" of Faculty I ), Isabel Müskens (Department for Study Affairs ) and Nadine Carina Waitz ( Division 3) were successful in the application process and will be able to focus on the following key tasks in the project:

• the recording of competences acquired outside of higher education (especially academic appointments) through credit portfolios and other forms of competence recording
• supporting students in obtaining evidence and compiling documents that prove the acquisition of creditable competences
• comparing the content of the competences acquired in academic appointments with the learning outcomes of the study modules (equivalence comparison)
• science-based support for those responsible for credit transfer in the School when deciding on credit transfer applications.

The PLAR service also helps drop-outs to present their achievements at the university in a comprehensible and competence-oriented manner for companies. Further information on the activities of the "Open University of Oldenburg" can be found on the web pages of the Competence Centre for Credit Transfer