Who we are

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?

Contact our scouts through the Bloomflow application form

People

Executive & Global Leadership

Scouting & Collaboration

Collaboration & Scouting Team Alumni

Research & Development – Top University Collaborations

Research & Development – Top University Collaborations

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.