NORA - North America Open Research Alliance

NORA – North America Open Research Alliance

Who We Are

The North America Open Research Alliance (NORA) is a strategic research initiative of BASF that focuses on leveraging the power of Open Innovation to co-develop iterative and transformative technologies, ensuring the competitiveness of our R&D activities as well as the strength of our talent pipeline – creating chemistry for a sustainable future.

Our Strategic Pillars

Effective Partnership Identification & Engagement: We align collaborations with our innovation and business strategies, e.g. with tools such as Halo, to ensure impactful collaborations.
Operational Excellence & Transparency: We streamline processes and optimize collaboration engagements, to ensure efficient time and resource allocation for all parties involved.
Regional Impact: We add electrons to the bonds between North American institutions, entrepreneurs, innovation partners, etc. and the drivers of BASF’s global R&D pipeline – ensuring that we leverage the strengths of the North America R&D ecosystem.
Team Health & Culture: We foster an inclusive, supportive environment that promotes continuous growth and well-being.

NORA’s Approach to Open Innovation

At NORA, we utilize an Open Innovation framework to engage with experts outside of our own organization. This framework allows us to rapidly explore a broader range of technologies and identify market solutions with key stakeholders across academia and industry. NORA’s Open Innovation strategy ensures that BASF remains competitive and responsive to emerging technological shifts. A focus on key areas such as sustainability, carbon management, and digitalization underpins our commitment to leading the chemical industry towards a more innovative and sustainable future.

Looking to join BASF's Open Innovation ecosystem?

Connect with us on Bloomflow

Find live BASF challenges on Halo

Collaborate with us on Halo

Daniel Freidank (left) and Wei Leng (right), lab managers, check the quality of viscoelastic polyurethane foam. The density of a foam product depends on the type and amount of blowing agent, and the flexibility or rigidity on the structure of polyols and isocyanates involved.
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See other connection opportunities on our Innovate with Us page

More options to innovate with BASF

Research & Development - Top Research University Collaborations

Contact our scouts through the Bloomflow application form

Dr. Dominique Moulin

Global Head of Academic Scouting & Collaborations

Dr. Thomas Holcombe

Collaboration & Scouting North America

Dr. Emir Islamovic

Innovation & Technology Scout – CARA Manager
Agricultural & Biosciences

Dr. Lauren Junker

Innovation & Technology Scout
Biosciences

Dr. Rui Zhang

Innovation & Technology Scout – CARA Manager
Inorganic Materials

Lorena Lujan Rubio

Strategic Partnerships Manager – Innovation & Sustainability

Dr. Roel Sanchez

Innovation & Technology Scout – CARA Manager
Inorganic Materials

Dr. Kavita Bitra

Innovation & Technology Scout
Agricultural & Biosciences

Date

Trade News |

September 11, 2023

Partnership between BASF and Nanotech Energy will enable production of lithium-ion batteries in North America with locally recycled content and low CO₂ footprint

Ludwigshafen, Germany and Chico, California – BASF, a globally leading battery materials producer, and Nanotech Energy, a worldwide leader in the field of graphene-based energy storage products, have agreed to partner to significantly reduce the CO₂ footprint of Nanotech’s lithium-ion batteries for the North American market. The agreement aims to close the loop for lithium-ion batteries in North America, with BASF producing cathode active materials from recycled metals in Battle Creek, Michigan, for the usage in lithium-ion battery cells produced by Nanotech Energy. Feeding recycled metals into the production of new lithium-ion batteries can reduce the CO₂ impact of batteries by about 25 percent compared to the use of primary metals from mines.

Date

NORA: Bridging the gap between disruptive innovation and industrial scalability

NORA connects BASF to different areas of knowledge and innovation in the academic and entrepreneurial ecosystem across the U.S.

Using road construction resources, a worker is installing new asphalt road surface with space, Generative AI.

Unleashing the power of open innovation through intrapreneurship

BASF experts developed and tested a new formulation in just under two years by implementing an agile methodology. Learn more about this in our new article.