Vanadium oxide (1 wt %) supported on γ-Al 2 O 3 was used to investigate the interface between the catalytically active species and the support oxide. Raman, UV-vis-NIR DRS, ESR, XANES, and EXAFS were used to characterize the sample in great detail. All techniques showed that an isolated VO 4 species was present at the catalyst surface, which implies that no V-O-V moiety is present. Surprisingly, a Raman band was present at 900 cm -1 , which is commonly assigned to a V-O-V vibration. This observation contradicts the current literature assignment. To further elucidate on potential other Raman assignments, the exact molecular structure of the VO 4 entity (1 VdO bond of 1.58 Å and 3 V-O bonds of 1.72 Å) together with its position relative to the support O anions and Al cation of the Al 2 O 3 support has been investigated with EXAFS. In combination with a structural model of the alumina surface, the arrangement of the support atoms in the proximity of the VO 4 entity could be clarified, leading to a new molecular structure of the interface between VO 4 and Al 2 O 3 . It was found that VO 4 is anchored to the support oxide surface, with only one V-O support bond instead of three, which is commonly accepted in the literature. The structural model suggested in this paper leaves three possible assignments for the 900 cm -1 band: a V-O-Al vibration, a V-O-H vibration, and a V-(O-O) vibration. The pros and cons of these different options will be discussed.