An important milestone on the way to expanding University Medicine Oldenburg: On Thursday, 28 July, the state of Lower Saxony and the city of Oldenburg had the purchase agreement for a 22,565 square metre plot of land in the Oldenburg Technology Park notarised. The state is paying the city around 4.5 million euros for the property. Laboratory, teaching and office buildings for university medicine are to be built on the site in the immediate vicinity of the Wechloy campus and the Haarentor campus. Three construction phases with a total usable area of around 12,400 square metres are planned.
Lower Saxony's Finance Minister Reinhold Hilbers, together with Science Minister Björn Thümler and representatives from the city and university, presented the current status at an on-site meeting at the Technology Park. "The purchase of this site forms the basis for the further development and expansion of University Medicine Oldenburg," said Finance Minister Hilbers, who is also responsible for the state of Lower Saxony's properties and building construction measures. "We are investing a large sum of money here. The state is thus also assuming financial responsibility and making a contribution to the future development of University Medicine Oldenburg and the city of Oldenburg. That would even be a win-win-win situation," said Hilbers with a wink, pointing out the benefits for local University Medicine Oldenburg, for the city of Oldenburg and also for the state as a centre of science.
"I am very pleased about this important step towards the expansion of University Medicine Oldenburg. The expansion of the European Medical School is of outstanding importance for the further development of medical training in Lower Saxony and for medical care in the north-west," emphasised Science Minister Björn Thümler. "In Oldenburg, we have succeeded in establishing an innovative and strong third training centre in the state within a short space of time. It is our responsibility to ensure the best possible study conditions for students here. This applies to the recruitment of lecturers and researchers as well as the provision of teaching and learning spaces. The realisation of the office and research building, including the anatomy teaching areas in the first construction phase, lays an important foundation stone."
The retail space is located directly next to the building already under construction for the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (HIFMB), an institutional co-operation between Bremerhaven's Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, and the university.
The city and university are delighted
The city had already kept the site on the street "Im Technologiepark" free as a potential area for the development of university medicine since 2018. "I am very pleased that this foresight is now paying off and that the plans can now become reality," said Lord Mayor Jürgen Krogmann. He thanked all those involved in business and politics who have shown great commitment to the expansion of the University Medical Centre. "Without this enormous unity in the region, we would still not be this far today," Krogmann is convinced. "With the sale of this high-quality site, the city of Oldenburg is fulfilling its function as a regional centre: medical care in the state of Lower Saxony will also be secured in the long term by the students of the European Medical School," added Dr Julia Figura, Head of Finance, who represented the Lord Mayor at the on-site meeting on Thursday after the notarisation.
Prof. Dr Hans Gerd Nothwang, Dean of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University Medicine Oldenburg, emphasised: "We are very grateful to the City of Oldenburg for its continued support of the University Medical School. The provision of a plot of land for the urgently needed new building is just one important example of this commitment. We will continue to need this support in the future in order to be able to adequately develop as the third university medical centre in Lower Saxony - for the benefit of our patients."
The planning in detail
The planning contract has already been awarded for the first construction phase on the site in the Technology Park. On a total area of around 4,000 square metres, laboratory and office space as well as teaching areas for anatomy are to be created. According to the current plans, the total costs will amount to around 61.5 million euros, with corresponding funding available. Construction is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2024.
In the second construction phase, laboratories and offices for medical research are to be built on around 3,500 square metres of floor space. A teaching building (floor space of around 4,900 square metres) is planned for the third construction phase. Lecture theatres, seminar and practical rooms are to be accommodated here.
The plans are based on an expert opinion from the Institute for University Development, which quantified the space required for research and teaching as part of the expansion of University Medicine Oldenburg. The state government had already agreed in the 2017 coalition agreement to create new human medicine study places - the majority in Oldenburg. In November 2021, the decision was then made to increase the current 80 study places by 40 places from the 2022/23 winter semester.
