BASF celebrates 20th anniversary of Kids’ Lab in Suwon, Korea

• Creative, hands-on experiments for kids include magic flower and natural toothpaste
• Kids’ Lab to be held in Suwon for first time, followed by events in Ulsan and Yeosu

Seoul, Korea – September 12, 2017 – BASF today brought an interactive science education program to 180 primary school children at the Suwon Pal-dal Elementary School in Gyeonggi-do, Korea. Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2017, this program helps foster a love of science among children aged 6-12. This year, the event is being held in Suwon for the first time, where the BASF Electronic Materials Research & Development (R&D) Center Asia Pacific is located.

Established first in 1997 in Germany, BASF Kids’ Lab takes place annually in about 40 countries around the world to raise children’s interest in chemistry. In 2003, the program was held for the first time in Korea in Ulsan, subsequently expanding to Seoul, Yeosu and Gunsan. More 5,100 children have participated in this science education program in Korea.

This year, BASF Kids’ Lab will provide a wide range of special activities for children, including six creative hands-on programs. These include magic flower, Slime and natural toothpaste experiments as well as other science activities for participants to join in. These programs are designed to raise children’s interest and curiosity with easy-to-understand explanations about the chemistry behind the experiments. Researchers from the BASF R&D center volunteer to guide and teach children as they conduct experiments.

BASF focuses its corporate citizenship activities in Korea on quality education, in support of the fourth United Nations Strategic Development Goal. “BASF has been at the forefront of promoting the importance of science education to children all over the world. In Korea, we are celebrating the global 20th anniversary of Kids’ Lab by introducing the events for the first time to Suwon, where BASF's R&D center is located,” said WooSung Shin, Managing Director, BASF Korea.

In Suwon, BASF also sponsors a scholarship program run by the city government and Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) to provide financial support to science and engineering students.

BASF established the Electronic Materials R&D Center Asia Pacific at SKKU in Suwon, South Korea in 2014.

BASF Kids’ Lab will also be held this year in Yeosu and Ulsan, where BASF's production sites are located.

 

About BASF in Korea
BASF has been a committed partner to Korea since 1954. As a leading foreign investor in the Korean chemical industry, BASF operates seven world-scale production sites in Korea. BASF maintains an R&D center in Suwon and four technical development centers in Korea. The Asia Pacific headquarters of BASF’s Electronic Materials business is located in Seoul. BASF posted sales to customers in Korea of approximately €1.1 billion in 2016, and employed 1,105 employees in Korea as at December 31, 2016. For further information, please visit: www.basf.com/kr.

About BASF
At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The approximately 114,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into five segments: Chemicals, Performance Products, Functional Materials & Solutions, Agricultural Solutions and Oil & Gas. BASF generated sales of about €58 billion in 2016. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (BAS). Further information at www.basf.com.