In April 1980, the presidents of the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg and the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen signed an agreement on academic cooperation. They declared their intention to cooperate in the areas of research, academic studies and continuing education. These intentions were put into practice in the following years.

Over the decades, the exchange intensified steadily, and the universities grew closer. Partners became friends. In 2012, a major project was launched in the form of the European Medical School Oldenburg-Groningen, which established a joint degree program in human medicine that remains unique in Europe.

On 29 October 2020, the two universities renewed their 40-year cooperation. At a ceremony, the cooperation agreement, which explicitly mentions the fields of teacher training as well as knowledge and technology transfer for the first time, was extended for another ten years.

Shortly thereafter, a concept for further expanding and purposefully deepening cooperation between the two universities was developed in the form of the "Roadmap for Cooperation 2020-2030". The Roadmap was adopted by the Presidential Boards of the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg and the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen in the spring of 2021.