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 Innovation (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, scout talents from Asia Pacific, continuously introduce sustainable solutions into the market, and significantly contributing to improve the quality of life.

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.

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.