Martin Kraus - An international journey through research

I joined BASF with just over six years of professional experience and started in catalysis research. A year later, the opportunity arose to go to New Jersey and conduct catalysis research for BASF at the Iselin site. When I came back to Ludwigshafen after seven years, I was able to plan and build a new production plant together with a great team. The detailed planning and the years of preparation up to the start of the actual construction was a completely new experience and way of working for me. Towards the end of the project, I seized the opportunity to set up a new group within catalysis research for scale-up and production support. At the same time, I took over the project management for a new solids pilot plant, which will be completed by 2024. I relinquished my role as a group leader for the scale-up in June 2022 and am now responsible for global scale-up and production support as a program manager. There, I work with the same colleagues as before, but focus more on the strategic aspects and global coordination of scale-up and production support in order to support our internal customers in the best possible way.

Funnily enough, and despite being from the region myself, I never wanted to join BASF – which, being the first chemist in my family, caused some intense discussions at home. But at the time, I had the vision of working for a small company and not a big corporation. However, after a few years working in smaller places I decided to take the leap and work for a chemicals giant anyway. From the moment I started at BASF, I very much liked the diversity of experts, skills and resources, the campus-like feeling with many other researchers. To this day, I have not regretted my decision to join BASF. 

When interacting with colleagues, authenticity, sincerity and honesty are key – whether it’s praise or criticism and even in situations where it would be easier to avoid an unpleasant conversation. Big decisions, such as a stay abroad, should always be made together with the family. Times with high workloads and tough phases can be better managed if the people around you stand behind the decisions you make.