1981

• 11 March 1981
  Recommendation by the expert commission appointed by the state government to establish a Faculty of Law.
• 16 April 1981
  Organisational restructuring of the university by charter issued by the Ministry of Science, following a failure to reach agreement within the university’s governing bodies. Formation of nine faculties (FB) instead of the previous four: Faculty 1: Education, Faculty 2: Communication/Aesthetics, Faculty 3: Social Sciences, Faculty 4: Economics and Law, Faculty 5: Philosophy/Psychology/Sports Science, Faculty 6: Mathematics/Computing Science, Faculty 7: Biology, Faculty 8: Physics, Faculty 9: Chemistry.
• 1 June 1981
  The university establishes a branch in Wilhelmshaven for its research into coastal and marine biology.
• 3 July 1981
  Three expert reports commissioned by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs give a positive assessment of the single-phase teacher training programme (ELAB). Nevertheless, the pilot scheme is discontinued by the state government.
• 16 December 1981
  Unanimous resolution by the University Senate ‘requesting’ the state government not to initiate any preliminary disciplinary investigations against civil servants and employees ‘who are accused solely of standing as candidates for the DKP’.

1982

• 23 June 1982
  University Senate resolution on the establishment of Institutes.
• 15 October 1982
  Handover of the new buildings on Uhlhornsweg, comprising the university library, the sports facilities and the canteen.
  
  University expands: new building complex on Uhlhornsweg
• 8 December 1982
  University Senate resolution to introduce ‘Magister’ degree programmes alongside the ‘Diplom’ and teaching degree programmes. The ‘Magister’ degree programmes were launched in the summer semester of 1984.

1983

• 21 April 1983
  Signing of the first co-operation agreement with an Eastern European university, the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Poland).
• 15 August 1983
  Signing of the first agreement with a US university, the University of South Dakota.

1984

• 16 February 1984
  The Lower Saxony State Parliament rejected the establishment of a Faculty of Law in Oldenburg by 85 votes to 83.
• 28 June 1984
  Opening ceremony for the natural sciences complex at the Wechloy site.
• 1 October 1984
  The DIALOG centre is established to facilitate better cooperation between the university and industry.

1985

• 17 March 1985
  First participation in the Hannover Messe trade fair, presenting research in the field of ‘renewable energy sources’.
• 22 October 1985
  The Computing Science degree programme commences with 55 students.
  
  First steps towards public engagement: Computing Science Day 1988

1986

• September 1986
  To reach out to the public, the university presented its research for the first time as part of an exhibition in the city.
  
  Exhibition opening with President Horst Zilleßen (2nd from right)
• 1 October 1986
  Prof. Dr Michael Daxner begins his 12-year term as President of the University of Oldenburg.
• October 1986
  The University Senate passes a resolution to establish the Institute of Marine Chemistry and Biology (ICBM).
• 10 December 1986
  Adoption of the ‘Guidelines for Increasing the Proportion of Women in Academia’.

1987

• 22 September 1987
  Cooperation agreement with Towson University (Maryland, USA).

1988

• 1 April 1988
  Start of research work on the critical complete edition of the works of Carl von Ossietzky, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
• 4–8 May

  Participants at the Ossietzky Days, ‘Republicans without a Republic’, included the SPD Federal Chairman and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Willy Brandt, the futurologist Robert Jungk and the poet Erich Fried.

  
  Willy Brandt at the university – welcomed by President Michael Daxner (left) and Lord Mayor Horst Milde (right)

1989

• 1 January 1989
  The Federal Institute for the Culture and History of Germans in Eastern Europe (BKGE) is founded in Oldenburg; it becomes an affiliated institute of the university in 2000.
• 30 May 1989
  The state government gives the go-ahead for the expansion of marine research in Oldenburg and, consequently, for the Institute of Chemistry and Biology (ICBM). By 1994, 40 million marks had been invested in building and equipment.
  
  The ICBM’s measuring buoy off the island of Spiekeroog enables important data to be collected in the Wadden Sea regardless of the season.

1990

• 3–4 April 1990
  Launch of the ‘Karl Jaspers Lectures on Contemporary Issues’, initiated by Prof. Dr Rudolf zur Lippe, featuring the Indian philosopher Raimondo Panikkar. Guests at the lecture series, which takes place annually, have included: Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker, Lev Kopelev, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Ivan Illich, Jürgen Habermas, Willard V. O. Quine and others.
• 20 March 1990
  Announcement of the publication of a 25-volume critical complete edition of Tucholsky’s works by the Germanist Prof. Dr Dirk Grathoff and the political scientist Prof. Dr Gerhard Kraiker, who are also among the editors of the complete edition of Ossietzky’s works. The final volume of this edition is due to be published in 2010.
• July 1990
  Establishment of the university’s first DFG-funded research training group on the topic: ‘Environmental and Resource Economics’.
• 11 October 1990
  The number of students rises above 10,000 for the first time.
• 12 December 1990
  In a joint declaration, the Universities of Oldenburg and Bremen commit to the formation of a “North-West Research Region”.