Who we are

NAO - Network for Asian Open Research

Who we are

NAO - Network for Asian Open Research

Who we are

BASF places great value on open innovation through close collaboration with academic and industry partners around the world. It maintains a global network of around 280 partners from universities, institutes, and companies, forming a key pillar of BASF’s global Know-How Verbund.

In Asia Pacific, the Network for Asian Open Research (NAO) has been a joint platform steered by BASF as well as leading universities and institutes in the region since 2014.

Since the establishment of NAO, BASF and its partners have completed nearly 200 joint research projects. Currently, NAO projects encompass a wide range of research areas, including material recycling and upcycling, renewable raw materials, digitalization, new application driven research, sustainable processes and e-mobility.

Our Mission

We are working with region’s leading universities, institutes and start-ups to speed up R&D efficiency, incubate local talents, continuously introduce sustainable solutions into the market, and significantly contributing to improve the quality of life.

BASF's Open Innovation ecosystem

Our Strategic Pillars to catalyze Open Innovation

Effective Partnership Identification & Engagement: We identify ideas outside the BASF space. We align our collaborations with BASF's innovation and business strategies to ensure that our partnerships are impactful and mutually beneficial.
Operational Excellence & Transparency: We produce proof of concepts for the BASF research programs and operational divisions. We simplify processes and enhance collaboration efforts to maximize resource efficiency, ensuring that every engagement delivers value for all parties involved.
Regional Impact: By strengthening connections within Europe’s dynamic innovation ecosystem, we connect key players from academic institutions, start-ups, and other industry leaders to BASF’s global R&D pipeline, ensuring the seamless flow of groundbreaking ideas.
Team Health & Culture: We cultivate an inclusive and supportive environment that fosters continuous growth, well-being, and professional development for our teams and partners. We grow our team through the talent of our collaborators.

Connent with us on Bloomflow

Connect with our Global Academic Research Alliances and see other connection opportunities on our innovate with Us page

NAO academic partners

BASF places great value on open innovation through close collaboration with academic and industry partners around the world. It maintains a global network of around 280 partners from universities, institutes, and companies, forming a key pillar of BASF’s global Know-How Verbund. In the past decade NAO has worked with more than 80 academic institutions across Asia Pacific. Its mission is building, maintaining a stable long-term and trustful partnership with leading universities and research institutions in Asia and Pacific.

People

Executive & Global Leadership

Dr. Wei Han

Vice President, Group Research Asia

Dr. Dominique Moulin

Global Head of Academic Scouting and Academic Networks

Open Innovation Managers (OIM)

News

News Update

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.

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.

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.