Research strategies

The prime tasks of research and development are to safeguard and continually expand existing business. Yet to remain successful over time, you have to meet another challenge: building up new business in new markets as well.

New ideas for new markets

Evonik’s R&D strategy in the Chemicals Business Area takes both aspects into consideration. Eighty-five percent of expenditure on R&D is accounted for by those research projects specifically geared to the core technologies and markets of the relevant business units. Here, the business units work to unlock related markets for their products and develop new, more efficient production techniques for them. The remaining 15 percent of R&D expenditure goes into strategic research aimed at building up new high-technology activities outside the existing portfolio—activities which are new to the company, or even new to the world. These activities are bundled in the research subsidiary Creavis Technologies & Innovation.

In its strategic research within the Chemicals Business Area, Evonik pursues differing concepts:

• Project houses
• Internal start-ups to market newly developed products
• Science-to-business centers

We research particularly interesting cross-unit topics in our project houses, which are limited to a period of three years. The project houses work in close harness with the business units and external partners such as universities, research institutes and clients. This process culminates in the commercial marketing of the new products and technologies by a business unit or inhouse start-up.

The concept behind the science-to-business centers is based on pooling all R&D activities at every link in the value chain under one roof—from basic research through product development all the way to pilot production. The objective here is the swift development of new business lines right through to the production of finished systems for end-users. These centers also provide the right environment for collaborations between inhouse and external partners. Currently, Evonik has three science-to-business centers, Bio and Nanotronics and Eco².

For a secure, reliable energy supply

The focus of Evonik’s research activities in the Energy Business Area is to ensure a reliable, economic and environmentally compatible supply of energy. Together with other companies and institutes, we take part in projects geared to boosting energy efficiency and preventing CO₂ emissions. Other research activities concentrate on optimizing power plant operation as regards the efficiency of day-to-day operations as well as the anticipatory recognition of malfunctions.