125 million euros for University Medicine Oldenburg
The state government’s current budget plans are enabling University Medicine Oldenburg to plan reliably for the future for the first time since its foundation. 125 million euros are set to be allocated to the site by 2028 – to increase the number of first-year students from 120 to 200 from the 2026/27 winter semester onwards and to fund investment in a research and teaching building. This was announced by Minister-President Stephan Weil following the Lower Saxony state government’s closed-door budget meeting on 24 June 2024. The state parliament has yet to approve the budget plan. More
"For University Medicine Oldenburg, this decision represents one of the most important moments since it was founded twelve years ago. The state government has kept its promise and now, for the first time, we can plan the further development of UMO in a reliable and future-oriented manner. This is an important step for the entire north-west and its healthcare provision."
Prof Dr Ralph Bruder,
President of the University of Oldenburg
With the support of an entire region
Since its foundation, University Medicine Oldenburg has been able to rely on the broad support of the region. Most recently, around 20,000 people from the north-west backed UMO with their signatures and supported the demand for additional medical study places at the University of Oldenburg.
Our special thanks go to
- the Oldenburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce
- the Landfrauenverband Weser-Ems
- the Friends and Sponsors of University Medicine Northwest
- the Oldenburg University Society
- the members of the teaching practice network
- and all those who drew attention to the signature campaign and took part in it.
How University Medicine Oldenburg will use the state funds
The creation of additional study places requires various investments, which must be made in parallel so that University Medicine Oldenburg can continue to fulfil its high standards of teaching and research.
Sufficient space
for teaching and research
The planning institute for university development HIS-HE has identified a space deficit of almost 20,000 square metres for the expansion stage to 200 students per year. The University of Oldenburg has therefore drawn up a construction plan for teaching and research infrastructure in the Technology Park on Pophankenweg.
Three construction phases for research and teaching
The first construction phase, covering around 4,000 square metres, provides space for research infrastructure and the urgently needed wet anatomy department. The costs for the anatomy, totalling 16 million euros, will be borne by the university itself. In total, this construction phase will cost around 61 million euros. Construction work will begin in 2025 and is expected to take four years.
The second construction phase covers around 3,500 square metres and will provide space for additional research infrastructure and offices in particular. The costs amount to around 84 million euros.
Due to steadily rising student numbers, UMO urgently needs its own teaching building. The costs for this amount to around 83 million euros.
Current status of financing
In autumn 2020, the state government at the time pledged 80 million euros for the first two construction phases, which was only part of the amount required. The funds announced by the state government in June 2024 also provide planning security for previously unresolved issues: Around 31 million euros are to flow into the second construction phase in the years up to 2028 and enable planning for the urgently needed teaching building.
Adjustment of the
state allocations
Increasing the number of places on medical degree programmes requires additional financial resources. To ensure that students have access to the “impressive range of courses” praised by the German Council of Science and Humanities, additional teaching staff are needed.
The financial plan agreed back in 2019 between University Medicine Oldenburg and the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK) provides for the total state funding for research and teaching at the university to rise gradually by 2028 from the current €36.3 million to around €51 million per year
This adjustment to the allocations will make it possible to increase the number of first-year students for the 2026/27 winter semester from 120 to 200. The funding announced by the state government in June 2024 will be used to establish further professorships, complete with the necessary staffing and equipment.
Further costs arise from teaching materials, examinations, remuneration for work experience placements in teaching medical practices, clinical block placements and much more.
Compensation for the additional work
in the co-operation hospitals
In 2025, 7.5 million euros of the promised state funding is to be allocated to the UMO’s partner hospitals; in 2026, a total of 9.9 million euros; and in each of the following two years, 10.9 million euros.
Background: Unlike at other university medical centres, Oldenburg does not have a state-owned university hospital; instead, the Evangelisches Krankenhaus Oldenburg, the Karl-Jaspers-Klinik, the Klinikum Oldenburg and the Pius-Hospital Oldenburg, four independent partner hospitals serve as the cornerstones, operating the individual university hospitals.
Additional costs must be compensated
During the pilot phase of University Medicine Oldenburg, the partner hospitals had agreed to make their infrastructure available largely free of charge in order to train 40 medical students as apprentices. In 2019, the number of students doubled; by 2022, it had risen to 120, and is set to grow to 200 by the 2026/27 winter semester. As the number of students rises, so too does the additional workload at the partner hospitals.
History of University Medicine Oldenburg
In 2010, the time had come: in November, the German Council of Science and Humanities – the most important advisory body on science policy for the federal and state governments – paved the way for the establishment of a new medical faculty at the University of Oldenburg.
This positive endorsement by the German Council of Science and Humanities of the German-Dutch joint project ‘European Medical School Oldenburg-Groningen’ (EMS) attracted considerable attention across Germany, as it paved the way for the first new medical school to be established in Germany in more than 20 years: In 2012, the School of Medicine and Health Sciences was established at the University of Oldenburg.
The university had been considering the subject of medicine since as early as 1971: at that time, the founding committee had set up a planning commission for medicine in the hope of establishing a medical department. However, this failed due to the costs involved.
Collaboration with strong partners
Since the 2012/13 winter semester, it has been possible to undertake a cross-border degree programme in human medicine at the University of Oldenburg, culminating in the State Examination – a programme unique in Europe in this form. The programme, which currently accepts 80 students per year, is governed by the nationwide regulations on medical licensing and is also based on the Groningen curriculum. It is therefore no surprise that the University of Groningen, together with the University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG), is the most important partner of University Medicine Oldenburg. In addition, there are the Evangelical Hospital Oldenburg, Oldenburg General Hospital, Pius Hospital Oldenburg and the Karl Jaspers Clinic, as well as around 160 teaching practices and five academic teaching hospitals in north-western Germany. School V - School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Oldenburg currently comprises the Departments for Human Medicine, Medical Physics and Acoustics, Department for Neuroscience, Department of Psychology and Department of Health Services Research.
Further supporters
There have been, and continue to be, numerous supporters in establishing and promoting university medicine in the north-west: The association “Friends and Supporters of University Medicine North-West e.V.” was founded at an early stage; its members are committed, amongst other things, to strengthening links between academia and regional businesses in the fields of medicine and health within the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan region. To this day, the association supports the degree programme and provides expert advice.
Before the start of the degree programme
There were a number of hurdles to overcome in the months leading up to the start of the 2012 academic year: In June, the Lower Saxony State Parliament amended the Lower Saxony Higher Education Act to create the legal framework for the EMS – the Act came into force on 15 July 2012. The agreement with Groningen was signed, thereby formally sealing the German-Dutch co-operation project. With the appointment of the founding dean’s office by the Presidential Board, the sixth School of the University of Oldenburg was established in August 2012. Another milestone followed at the end of September 2012: the framework agreement coordinating the university’s collaboration with local hospitals was signed. The European Medical School Oldenburg-Groningen was officially opened on 23 October 2012.
A model degree programme with a pioneering character
The model degree programme in Medicine – the European Medical School Oldenburg-Groningen – differs significantly from other standard degree programmes in Medicine and plays a pioneering role in many respects.
A patient-centred and interdisciplinary approach, problem-based learning with tutors, a strong focus on research and intensive communication training – these are just some of the key standards that shape students’ education from the very beginning in the model degree programme in Medicine at the European Medical School Oldenburg-Groningen. This is also where the major difference lies compared to the traditional medical degree programme: at the University of Oldenburg, trainee doctors gain experience in general practice surgeries and outpatient care facilities from as early as the first semester. Furthermore, during their six-year degree programme, they have the opportunity to spend a semester at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen – a unique opportunity in Europe.
Foundational knowledge, clinical content and internships
In the early years, 40 students were able to commence their medical studies at the University of Oldenburg each winter semester. This number is set to be gradually increased to 200 by the mid-2020s – there are currently already 120 students.
This first cross-border degree programme lasts six years and concludes with the German State Examination. During the first three years, the curriculum comprises fundamental natural science subjects, clinical subjects and practical skills – organised into four ten-week modules per year. In addition, there are four one-week general medical placements, compulsory elective placements and research time, ensuring that each study module includes at least one week of practical training. This first stage of the programme concludes with the equivalent of the ‘Physikum’ after the third year.
In-depth study through block placements, clinical shadowing and research work
From the fourth year onwards, the focus is on practical and communication skills, building on the theoretical and practical foundational knowledge acquired over the previous three years. Much of the teaching now takes place at the Clinical Training Centre (KTZ) and in the clinical departments. The preparatory courses at the KTZ alternate with practical training periods (block placements) in the clinical departments. The remaining time is set aside for a compulsory research project, which is carried out in Oldenburg – or, optionally, in Groningen. Following this, medical students sit the second (written) State Examination. The sixth year is devoted to the practical year (PJ) – divided into three tertials. After these twelve months, the third (oral) State Examination takes place.
An academic year comprises 40 semester weeks
A major difference compared with other standard and model degree programmes is that at the University of Oldenburg, an academic year consists of 40 semester weeks – at other universities, students usually complete between 26 and 30 weeks per year. Consequently, all clinical placements required by the licensing regulations are integrated into the degree programme and do not fall during the lecture-free period.
As part of the programme, students have the option of spending one semester in Groningen, during which they base themselves in the Dutch city. Thanks to the programme’s strong practical focus, students are regularly given the opportunity to practise examination techniques, specific skills and the communicative aspects of the profession in a controlled environment at the KTZ. In Oldenburg, practical sessions at the KTZ are an integral part of the medical degree programme right from the start. “University Medicine Oldenburg thus offers a strong practical focus, which, alongside research-oriented learning, shapes everyday student life,” says Prof. Dr Hans Gerd Nothwang, Dean of School V - School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Research focal points and centres
The School of Medicine and Health Sciences has two research focuses that particularly characterise the scientific profile of the School: neurosensory and hearing research and healthcare research.
Structurally, research is supported by two research centres and coordinated third-party funding programmes.
Research Centre Neurosensory Science
How does our brain create an inner image of the world around us based on the signals from our sensory organs? Doctors, neurobiologists, psychophysicists, psychologists, acousticians, engineers, biochemists and neurogeneticists are working on this question on an interdisciplinary basis. The focus is on the processes that create the first sensory building blocks in the sensory organs from the flood of sensory impressions - and the processes that construct a perception from this in the brain. The experts pay particular attention to analysing the interactions between different sensory impressions.
Neurosensory science is one of eleven research focuses at the University of Oldenburg. So far, over 30 working groups have been established in this area, with the Research Centre Neurosensory Science forming the umbrella organisation. It bundles the interdisciplinary activities of the working groups and actively promotes co-operation with non-university institutions. The centre's scientists also see the targeted promotion of young scientists as an important task.
Centre of excellence for hearing research
The "Hearing4all" cluster of excellence is literally dedicated to "hearing for all". Through improved individualised hearing diagnostics and the provision of personal hearing aids, the scientists aim to significantly improve the communication situation of those affected. The Centre of Excellence for Hearing Research is the joint scientific umbrella structure of the University of Oldenburg, Hannover Medical School and the University of Hanover, which runs the Hearing4all project.
The aim of the centre of excellence is to support and coordinate joint research between the universities at the internationally recognised and well-networked cluster locations of Oldenburg and Hanover. In doing so, it contributes to sustainable, cross-university joint structures that combine basic research with clinical and translational research.
Focusing on everyday medical practice
Testing the mobility of senior citizens, analysing data from cancer patients or developing robots for elderly care: the topics that Oldenburg's healthcare researchers are working on are so diverse. For example, the focus is on healthcare epidemiology - where questions about the healthcare situation and the treatment of selected diseases and symptoms take centre stage - as well as on the quality of care and data integration and analysis. There are also newer departments such as "Assistance Systems and Medical Technology", which was created in collaboration with the OFFIS - Institute for Computing Science. Since 2018, the Department has also been cooperating closely with the newly founded Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health in Groningen. Under the umbrella of the joint Cross-Border Institute of Healthcare Systems and Prevention, which is currently being established, the experts are analysing the Dutch and German healthcare systems on a comparative basis.
Further information: uol.de/medicine/research
