Dr. Marijn Dekkers, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bayer AG

„For a country lacking in raw materials like Germany, innovations have always been of paramount importance for prosperity and competitiveness. Today we find ourselves in an age of globalization – Germany thus needs to focus even more on research-intensive, higher-quality products or services. In global competition and in response to the challenges of our time – for example, energy management and climate change, health and safety – an ability to innovate can be the decisive difference.

Bayer is an inventor company, and innovations are at the heart of our corporate strategy. This claim, however, is not new to us. We look back on a long tradition of pioneering inventions that have revolutionized medicine, chemistry, and material science. During the past year alone we invested € 3.1bn in research and development. Our more than twelve thousand researchers and developers register on average three new patents on any given work day. But innovations mean much more to us: values that cannot be expressed in numbers. Inventive talent and a commitment to successful research are what have shaped the corporate culture of Bayer. We are thus in line with our mission statement: „Bayer: Science For A Better Life“.

It is Bayer’s declared aim to improve life by applying knowledge, research and innovations to the areas of health care, nutrition, and high-quality materials. It is our goal to contribute to fighting diseases, to creating a reliable basis for a healthy and sufficient supply of food and to make our lives safer, more comfortable, and even greener.

Yet we at Bayer not only conduct our own research. We also support external research and scientists and thus innovative solutions which make a positive contribution to the development of society. Every year, our “Bayer Science & Education Foundation” honors outstanding researchers. This is why it is such an honor for us to support the Deutscher Zukunftspreis (German Future Prize). This award sets the trend for the importance of and high regard for research and technology. It puts the spotlight on researchers and thereby lends outstanding scientific achievements the public recognition that is their due. The public must be made more aware of technologies and their opportunities for our for them to be accepted and to fully exploit their potentials.
The Deutscher Zukunftspreis contributes greatly to this awareness.“