BASF India : expands scope of research collaboration under the Network for Asian Open Research (NAO)

• Expands network to 10 leading university partners in Asia Pacific
• Project scope to cover advanced materials, bioscience and chemical process research
• 23 major research projects completed, in coatings, hybrid materials, monomers and polymers, surfaces and interfaces

Shanghai, China - December 5, 2017 - BASF, the world's leading chemical company, will expand the scope of its postdoctoral center in Asia Pacific, the Network for Asian Open Research (NAO), to include a significantly broader range of university partners and research areas. The expansion will further enhance BASF's research and development capabilities in the Asia Pacific region.

NAO, formerly known as the Network for Advanced Materials Open Research, was launched in March 2014 with seven leading universities in Asia Pacific. The network consists now of 10 partners from China, Japan and Korea. Areas of collaboration will be extended to cover all technologies under BASF's three global technology platforms, namely, Advanced Materials & Systems Research, Bioscience Research and Process Research & Chemical Engineering.

'NAO has proven to be an effective open research platform, with many encouraging results achieved since its inception. It has already added great value to our R&D activities in Asia Pacific. This has been the motivation to significantly expand the network to other technology fields and academic partners, addressing specific challenges in the region with cutting-edge technologies,' said Dr. Harald Lauke, President of Advanced Materials and Systems Research and Research Representative for Asia Pacific at BASF.

Since its establishment, BASF and its partners have completed 23 joint research projects under the NAO framework, covering topics such as new monomers and polymers, surfaces and interfaces, hybrid materials, and coatings. Six of the projects have already been transferred to BASF business units for further development due to their market potential. Others have been integrated to BASF's global technology portfolio, or led to scientific publications. So far, 10 post-doctoral students have joined BASF after the completion of the NAO projects.

One example of a successful project is a breathable wood coating solution created together with Tsinghua University. It can prevent wood from rotting in humid climates and thus prolong its lifespan. In another project, researchers from Sichuan University and BASF developed a new compounding technology for engineering plastics, which improves the mechanical strength of plastic parts. Engineering plastics are used in a wide range of applications, including automotive parts for lightweight but robust vehicles.

Currently, NAO is running 18 projects, ranging from high-efficiency, fiber-shaped polymer solar cells for e-textile applications with Fudan University, to heterogeneous catalysis research supporting INCOE, a global network focusing on zeolites as catalytically active materials, and to new insecticide solutions with several partners.

'Our collaboration under the NAO framework has a long-term focus, which is based on regular and interdisciplinary exchanges among the professors, students and BASF scientists. Together we are the NAO family with mutual trust and aspirations,' says Dr. Benjamin Breiten, NAO Team Leader. BASF also maintains similar initiatives around the world, for example, the 'Joint Research Network on Advanced Materials and Systems' (JONAS) in Europe, the 'North America Center for Research on Advanced Materials' (NORA), and the 'California Research Alliance (CARA).

BASF has been continuously expanding its research and development footprint in Asia Pacific over the past five years, to drive innovation by integrating customer and market needs at an early stage. With major R&D sites located in China, India, Japan and Korea, BASF had around 1,100 R&D employees by end of 2016. BASF operates two Innovation Campuses in Shanghai and Mumbai. The concept is unique to Asia Pacific, bringing together all parties engaged in the innovation process to one integrated site.

Current NAO partners include Tsinghua University, Kyoto University, Fudan University, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Sichuan University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics and Seoul National University.

About BASF in Greater China
BASF has been a committed partner to Greater China since 1885. With major investments in Shanghai, Nanjing and Chongqing, BASF is the largest foreign investor in China's chemical industry, and maintains the BASF Asia Pacific Innovation Campus (Shanghai) as a global and regional research and development hub. BASF posted sales of €5.9 billion in 2016 to customers in Greater China, and employed 8,805 people as of the end of that year. For further information, please visit www.basf.com/cn.

About BASF
At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The approximately 114,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into five segments: Chemicals, Performance Products, Functional Materials & Solutions, Agricultural Solutions and Oil & Gas. BASF generated sales of about €58 billion in 2016. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (BAS). Further information at www.basf.com.