BASF is further expanding its Innovation Campus Shanghai in a third phase. The expansion includes an additional research and development (R&D) building and a R&D workshop building. The company wants to strengthen its R&D capabilities for advanced materials and systems as well as for chemical engineering. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2022. By then, the total investment of BASF into its Innovation Campus Shanghai will sum up to around €280 million.
Accompanying this expansion, BASF is establishing a sounding board made up of experts from top universities in Asia as part of the Network for Asian Open Research (NAO). The sounding board will strengthen BASF’s innovation pipelines and accelerate market introduction by providing professional consultancy for R&D projects, anticipating industry trends, and enhancing the collaborations between BASF and universities.
Launched in 2014, NAO is a joint platform of BASF and meanwhile twelve prestigious universities and institutes in Asia Pacific. To date, more than 70 joint projects have been completed, covering a wide range of research areas including monomers, polymers, surfaces and interfaces, coatings, catalysis, battery materials, chemical and process engineering, insecticides, as well as digitalization and smart manufacturing in R&D.
The Innovation Campus Shanghai has become an innovation powerhouse: Over the past five years, it has applied for more than 220 patents. The site plays an increasing role in the development of innovations for the automotive, construction and consumer goods industries, according the company.
- BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany
