UNC, BASF Agreement Addresses Global Challenges

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and BASF Corporation are joining forces to address global challenges.

BASF is a German conglomerate with global reach in chemical, pharmaceutical and agricultural sciences.

The collaboration between UNC and BASF’s Agricultural Products Group, located in Research Triangle Park, will address climate change, food security and scarcity of resources, among other pressing global issues.

“By connecting its deep scientific expertise to UNC-Chapel Hill’s fundamental research capabilities, initially focused on biomedical, health and pharma applications, BASF expects to find new innovations for its customers in agriculture, health and personal care,” the organizations said in a joint statement.

The agreement highlights the benefits of academic and industry partnerships that have attracted life sciences companies from around the world to set up operations in North Carolina. 

Reflects the importance of NC's life sciences ecosystem

“These types of master research agreements are incredibly important in the world today as we seek to solve global challenges through collaborative partnerships,” said Mary Beth Thomas, Ph.D., the North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s senior vice president, science and business development. “This is a testament to UNC’s standing as a premier research institution, but it is also a recognition of the importance of North Carolina’s life sciences ecosystem.”

Access to current research and technologies are just two of the reasons BASF chose to partner with the university.

The partnership, said Peter Eckes, president, bioscience research and regional research representative North America, will improve the impact of the company’s research activities, but it will also give it “more access to technologies beyond our in-house expertise.”

BASF, based in Florham Park, N.J., is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany, one of the world’s largest chemical producers. The company has more than 18,800 employees in North America and sales of $18.4 billion in 2019. As a result, the impact of the collaboration with UNC will have a far-reaching impact.

“BASF is a company with a North Carolina site and global footprint,” added Thomas. “Its decision to partner with UNC will spur the growth of our North Carolina research enterprise and will also create opportunities to discover solutions for the world.”

The collaborators said the new agreement creates an opportunity for “open scientific discussions” and will speed up the collaborative process.

“Combining our scientific expertise and research capabilities through the Master Research Agreement will enable Carolina and BASF to solve the grand challenges of our time and produce results that will benefit the people of North Carolina, the nation and the world,” said UNC Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D., in the statement.

The partnership has already resulted in the launch of several plant science-focused projects.