Wikipedia says that the German chemical giant, BASF, is “the largest producer in the world, operating 390 production sites on 5 continents, and employing approximately 122,000 in 2015. This past summer a C&E News article (“More Rabbits from Fewer Hats,” 20 June 2016, p. 26) took a look at BASF’s research directions.
C&E News noted that BASF is “the only chemical firm in the world to have an R&D bill of more than $2 billion,” but they also reported a change in direction. According to BASF board member, Martin Brudermuller, “Our research commitment will not increase at the same rate as before, but our commitment to R&D will not go down. … In the future we will need more computational chemists than lab technicians.”
Curious about what computational chemists do, and how this might appeal to an industrial giant like BASF, come see me.
