125 million euros for University Medicine Oldenburg
The state government's current budget plans allow University Medicine Oldenburg to plan reliably for the future for the first time since it was founded. 125 million euros are to flow to the site by 2028 - to increase the number of first-year students from 120 to 200 from the 2026/27 winter semester and to invest in a research and teaching building. This was announced by Minister President Stephan Weil following the budget meeting of the Lower Saxony state government on 24 June 2024. The budget planning has yet to be confirmed by the state parliament. 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
The increase in medical study places requires additional financial resources. Additional teaching staff are needed to provide students with the "impressive range of courses" praised by the German Council of Science and Humanities.
The financial planning already agreed between University Medicine Oldenburg and the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK) in 2019 provides for a gradual increase in state allocations for research and teaching at the university from the current 36.3 to around 51 million euros per year by 2028
The adjustment of the allocations will make it possible to increase the number of first-year students from 120 to 200 by the winter semester 2026/27 The funds announced by the state government in June 2024 will be used to establish additional professorships with appropriate staffing and equipment.
Further costs will be incurred for teaching materials, examinations, remuneration for work shadowing in teaching 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 funds are to flow to the UMO cooperation hospitals, in 2026 a total of 9.9 million euros and in each of the two following years 10.9 million euros.
Background: Unlike at other University Medicine Oldenburg locations, there is no state-owned university hospital in Oldenburg, but rather four independent cooperation hospitals - Evangelisches Krankenhaus Oldenburg, Karl-Jaspers-Klinik, Klinikum Oldenburg and Pius-Hospital Oldenburg - as supporting pillars that operate the individual university hospitals.
Additional expenditure must be compensated for
During the trial phase of University Medicine Oldenburg, the cooperating hospitals agreed to make their infrastructure available largely free of charge in order to apprentice 40 medical students. The number of students doubled in 2019, rising to 120 in 2022 and is set to increase to 200 by the 2026/27 winter semester. As the number of students increases, so 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 science policy advisory body to the federal and state governments, paved the way for the establishment of a new medical centre at the University of Oldenburg.
This positive vote by the German Council of Science and Humanities on the German-Dutch joint project "European Medical School Oldenburg-Groningen" (EMS) attracted a great deal of attention nationwide, as it enabled the first new School of Medicine to be established in Germany for more than 20 years: the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences was founded at the University of Oldenburg in 2012.
The subject of medicine had been on the university's agenda since 1971: Back then, the founding committee had set up a planning committee for medicine in the hope of establishing a medical faculty. However, this failed due to the costs.
Collaboration with strong partners
Since the 2012/13 winter semester, it has now been possible to complete a cross-border training programme with State Examination in Medicine at the University of Oldenburg - the only one of its kind in Europe. The programme, which is currently open to 80 students per year, is regulated by the national licensing regulations and is also based on the Groningen curriculum. It is therefore not surprising that the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen with the University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG) is the most important partner of University Medicine Oldenburg. Other partners include the Evangelical Hospital Oldenburg, the Oldenburg Clinical Centre, the Pius Hospital Oldenburg and the Karl Jaspers Clinic as well as around 160 teaching practices and five academic teaching hospitals in north-west Germany. The School V - School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Oldenburg today consists of the Departments of Human Medicine, Medical Physics and Acoustics, Neurosciences, Psychology and Health Services Research.
Further supporters
There were and are numerous supporters of the establishment and promotion of university medicine in the north-west: the association "Freunde und Förderer der Universitätsmedizin Nordwest e.V." was founded early on, whose members are committed to, among other things, stronger networking between science and regional companies in the field of medicine and health in the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan region. The association continues to support the degree programme to this day and provides advice and expertise.
Before the start of the programme
A number of hurdles had to be overcome in the final months before the start of the 2012 semester: In June, the Lower Saxony state parliament created the legal framework for the EMS by amending the Lower Saxony Higher Education Act - the law came into force on 15 July 2012. The agreement with Groningen was signed, formally sealing the German-Dutch co-operation project. With the appointment of the founding Dean's Office by the Presidential Board, the sixth School at the University of Oldenburg was founded in August 2012. At the end of September 2012, another milestone was reached: 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 human medicine - the European Medical School Oldenburg-Groningen - differs considerably from other standard degree programmes in human medicine and is a pioneer in many respects.
Patient-oriented and interdisciplinary work, problem-oriented learning with tutors, a consistent focus on research and intensive communication training - these are just some of the most important standards that determine the training of students in the model degree programme in human medicine at the European Medical School Oldenburg-Groningen from the very beginning. This is also the major difference to the traditional human medicine degree programme: the future doctors at the University of Oldenburg gain experience in GP practices and outpatient medical facilities from the very first semester. They also have the opportunity to spend a semester at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen during their six-year degree programme - a unique opportunity in Europe.
Basic knowledge, medical-clinical content and internships
In the first few years, 40 students were able to start their human medicine degree programme at the University of Oldenburg each winter semester. This number is to be gradually increased to 200 by the mid-2020s - there are currently already 120 students.
This first cross-border degree programme, which concludes with the German State Examination, takes six years to complete. In the first three years, the curriculum includes basic scientific subjects as well as clinical subjects and practical skills - in four ten-week modules per year. In addition, there are four one-week internships in general medicine, elective placements and research time, so that each study module includes at least one practical week. This first stage of the programme concludes with the Physikum equivalent after the third year.
Specialisation through block internships, work shadowing and research work
From the fourth year onwards, the focus is on practical and communication skills, which build on the theoretical and practical knowledge gained in the previous three years. Large parts of the teaching now take place in the Clinical Training Centre (KTZ) and in the clinics. The preparatory course at the KTZ alternates with practical training periods (block internships) at the clinics. The remaining time is available for compulsory research work, which is completed in Oldenburg - or optionally in Groningen. Following this, the medical students write the second (written) State Examination. The sixth year is the practical year (PJ) - divided into three tertials. After these twelve months, the third (oral) State Examination takes place.
One academic year comprises 40 semester weeks
One major difference to other standard and model degree programmes is that an academic year at the University of Oldenburg consists of 40 semester weeks - at other universities, students usually complete between 26 and 30 weeks per year. On the other hand, all clinical traineeships prescribed in the medical licence regulations are integrated into the degree programme and do not take place during the lecture-free period.
A one-semester stay in Groningen is possible during the degree programme, during which students move the centre of their lives to the Dutch city. Due to the practical nature of the programme, students regularly have the opportunity to practise examination methods, certain skills and communicative aspects of academic appointments in a protected environment at the KTZ. In Oldenburg, the practice sessions in the KTZ have been an integral part of the medical degree programme from the very beginning. "University Medicine Oldenburg thus offers a strong practical orientation, which, like research-oriented learning, characterises everyday study 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
