Our interactions with you, our customers, are vital. You use our products; you define your markets’ current and future needs. In partnership with our customers, we identify trends that promise growth and ensure long-term market success and competitiveness. Close links with universities and research institutions play a key role, too. We promote pure research. In 2006, we established an interface between academic and industrial research when we set up the Institute of Silicon Chemistry at TUM (Technical University of Munich).

Our Corporate R&D department focuses on pure and product-related research so that we can develop high-growth markets. Application-driven R&D (in other words, the enhancement of existing products and processes) is the responsibility of our business divisions. This area of R&D is becoming increasingly international in outlook – paying close attention to your needs and your markets. For instance, by being based directly in local markets, our technical centers can tailor products to meet specific needs. This is often a source of inspiration for basic research.