BSTRACTWe provide insights into the influence of surface termination on the oxygen vacancy incorporation for the perovskite model material SrTiO3 during annealing in reducing gas environments. We present a novel approach to tailor the oxygen vacancy formation by controlling the termination. We prove that a SrO-termination can inhibit the incorporation of oxygen vacancies across the (100)-surface and apply this to control their incorporation during thin film growth. Utilizing the conducting interface between LaAlO3 and SrTiO3

we could tailor the oxygen-vacancy based conductivity contribution by the level of SrO termination at the interface.