In 2010, BASF again intends
to maintain its research budget at the previous years' high level, with
an overall target of €1.38 billion. This was confirmed by Dr. Andreas Kreimeyer,
Member of the Board of Executive Directors and Research Executive Director,
at the company's Research Press Conference today, January 28, 2010, in
Ludwigshafen. For the previous year 2009, BASF's research allocations
reached almost €1.4 billion, slightly above the level of the previous year
2008 (€1.35 billion).
“Only with a continuous flow of innovations can we consistently use competitive
advantages to achieve above-market organic growth. Continuity of research strategy
is important both in good times and also in times of crisis,” said Kreimeyer
explaining BASF's long-term commitment. The company's R&D strategy
aims to enhance the existing portfolio, develop customer-specific system solutions
and deliver solutions to the challenges of the future arising from global megatrends,
he continued. The complex issues to be addressed include supplying a growing
world population with water, food, energy or mobility. Reflecting these technology
and chemistry-relevant global trends, BASF has defined five Growth Clusters
for strategic corporate research: Plant Biotechnology, White (Industrial) Biotechnology,
Nanotechnology, Energy Management and Raw Material Change.
“The main drivers in achieving our ambitious research goals are our currently
around 9,300 employees in Research and Development who are dedicated to transforming
a pipeline brimming with about 3,300 projects into new business,” emphasized
Kreimeyer. It will also be necessary to respond to the paradigm shift currently
underway in chemistry, whereby success will no longer be determined merely by
new molecules but by new effects, new systems and system solutions, new components
and functional materials. “We can only successfully tackle these complex
problems through international and interdisciplinary cooperations,” he
explained.
Business and science cooperating for success
The importance of international knowledge networks in tackling the challenges
of the future was demonstrated by presenting three of BASF's particularly
successful research cooperations during the second part of the press conference.
These were the Joint Innovation Lab at Ludwigshafen site which is pushing forward
organic electronics, the research initiative at Harvard University in the USA
devoted to preventing biofilms, and the Catalysis Research Laboratory (CaRLa)
at Heidelberg University.
The joint laboratory of BASF and Heidelberg University has become a prime research
location attracting catalysis researchers from around the world. Following a
successful evaluation, the run time and funding of the Catalysis Research Laboratory,
CaRLa for short, was extended by another five years at the beginning of the
year by BASF, Heidelberg University and the State of Baden-Württemberg.
At this center, corporate researchers and the university are jointly addressing
basic and industrial research topics in the field of homogeneous catalysis.
Since its launch three years ago, CaRLa has become a groundbreaking pilot project
for the networking of business and science. Under the motto “Industry
on Campus”, the laboratory gives the company additional impulses with
new ideas from the academic environment of catalysis research. During the initial
sponsorship period, the main emphasis was placed on projects for screening for
new catalysts, including the development and improvement of catalysts for controlled
hydrogenation of enones and for olefin metathesis. With the first joint patent
applications and publications, the goals of accessing new raw materials and
establishing even more efficient catalysts in production are coming closer to
fulfillment.
BASF is the world's leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its
portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics and performance products to agricultural
products, fine chemicals as well as oil and gas. As a reliable partner BASF
helps its customers in virtually all industries to be more successful. With
its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF plays an important role
in finding answers to global challenges such as climate protection, energy efficiency,
nutrition and mobility. BASF posted sales of more than €62 billion in 2008
and had approximately 97,000 employees as of the end of the year. BASF shares
are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich
(AN).