BASF teams up with faculty from Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst on a formed research initiative, the North American Centre for Research on Advanced Materials that will embark on developing new materials for the automotive, building and construction, and energy industries.

”This collaboration with these prestigious American universities is an important expansion of our international research network,” said Dr. Hans-Ulrich Engel, CEO of BASF Corporation and CFO of BASF SE. ”It is part of BASF's strategy to further extend our global research and development activities. We rely on strong partners for this project.” Scientists from disciplines such as chemistry, physics and biology and engineers with know-how in different industries will be involved in the collaboration work that is initially planned for five years; in line with this, some 20 new post-doctoral positions will be created at the three universities.

The academic partners contribute not only their expertise in material sciences, modeling and formulation methods, but also provide new ideas for interesting research approaches. Besides fundamental scientific knowledge, BASF researchers will contribute the necessary experience in transforming research results into technically feasible processes and products and input about which materials are needed in the different industries and applications.

The ideas and topics to be researched will be decided jointly by the researchers participating in the initiative. Topics already identified include micro and nanostructured polymers with new properties, as well as biomimetic materials that emulate nature. For example, the scientists are working on lightweight construction materials for wind turbines and automotive construction and on new color effects for cosmetic applications.

”We need the creative spirit of the widest possible range of sciences to develop solutions to meet the needs of a growing world population for clean drinking water, secure energy supply and improved quality of life,” explained Dr. Christian Fischer, President of BASF's Advanced Materials and Systems Research.

The research scientists are supported and advised by a scientific committee consisting of BASF scientists together with Prof. George Whitesides and Prof. Dave Weitz from Harvard, Prof. Robert Langer and Prof. Mary Boyce from MIT and Prof. Todd Emrick and Prof. Alan Lesser from UMass Amherst.