Promoting talent, inspiring ideas, and aspiring to tolerance – these are major themes at the University of Oldenburg. The university was established in 1973, and is among the youngest universities in Germany. The university is named after the Nobel Peace Prize winner Carl von Ossietzky (1889 – 1938), who was among the most distinguished journalists of the Weimar Republic and a leading opponent of the Nazi dictatorship. Naming itself after Carl von Ossietzky, the university acknowledges its ongoing social responsibility and participation in public discourses.

The university contributes to the economic and cultural development of the Northwestern region of Germany. Combining and developing academic achievement and exceptional teaching is its goal for the future - based on internationally visible and interdisciplinary research, focused support of junior researchers, and the complete switch to bachelor and master programs.

Supporting junior researchers is an integral part of the strategic development of the university. This is testified by the successful promotion of coordinated doctoral programs. Third party-funded research training groups (funded, for example, by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft or the Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur) are supplemented by university-funded doctoral degree programs. Thus, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg occupies a leading position within the state of Lower Saxony.

In addition, the university hosts a range of high-profile junior research groups (supported by the European Research Council, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Wissenschaft and others) that allow outstanding junior researchers to qualify themselves for academic leadership in research and teaching.