The realisation of the mandate of inclusive education following the signing of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2009 and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) "Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all" in particular requires highly professional special needs educational specialists. In order to achieve these goals, the state of Lower Saxony and the C. v. O. University of Oldenburg have initiated a significant expansion of the Institute of Special Needs Education and Rehabilitation.

The members of the Institute of Special Needs Education and Rehabilitation are committed to the realisation of the UN agreements through their research and teaching activities and are guided by the common research focus of School I "Participation and Education". Specific research focuses are I: "Barriers and multiple impairments", II: "Professionalisation in specialist training", III: "Digitality and assistive technologies" and IV: "Communication".research profile

The Special Needs Education and Rehabilitation also sees itself as an interdisciplinary science. Intensive co-operation with other Schools at the University is therefore an essential part of the Institute's research activities. Close cooperative relationships exist, for example, with Institutes of School III - School of Linguistics and Cultural Studies and Departments of School VI - School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Since its foundation, the Institute of Special Needs Education and Rehabilitation has focussed on empirical-applied research for evidence-based special needs educational and rehabilitation educational practice in prevention, intervention and rehabilitation. This requires sophisticated empirical-social science studies that provide a scientific basis for high-quality, individualised support. This orientation forms the basis for the Institute's work, as does the orientation towards the "International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health" (ICF) and the DFG code "Guidelines for ensuring good academic practice". Due to the complex, multi-causal problems in the field of Special Needs Education and Rehabilitation and the associated diversification of the subject, it is necessary and sensible to focus on a variety of content and research methods within the Institute's research.

The promotion of early-career researchers is particularly important at the Institute. Early-career researchers have the opportunity to take advantage of appropriate support offers for further qualification, e.g. within the framework of the research training group "SPARK", the Institute's Doctoral Candidate Centre (DOZ), the team Doctoral Candidate Centres (Fachgruppen-DOZ) and the Graduate School "3GO".

The inclusive Centre of Competence for the joint, holistic promotion of development in childhood, adolescence and adulthood (KoggE) emerged from the former Outpatient Clinic for ReHabilitation. As a central institution at the Institute of Special Needs Education and Rehabilitation, it combines applied research, practical teaching and networking in the region through professionalisation programmes and research-related services.