Streamlining the Research Data Lifecycle at BASF Agricultural Solutions

Transform Data into Value

BASF, a leading multinational chemical company, emphasizes innovation across sectors such as Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care, and Agricultural Solutions. Central to this innovation is the concept of “Verbund,” which involves the intelligent interlinking of research and development, production plants, energy flows, and infrastructure. This philosophy extends to BASF’s R&D data processes, where data integration and insight generation are crucial for driving innovation.

Dr. Joachim Dickhaut, Senior Principal Scientist in BASF’s Agricultural Research Division, highlights that high-quality data is essential for sound business decisions. However, the division faced challenges with its existing R&D infrastructure, which struggled to support complex workflows and manage the large volumes of data generated.

The team’s workflows follow a design-make-test-analyze (DMTA) approach. Researchers use a molecular-property database and machine learning tools (referred to as “Quriosity”) to identify promising molecules. They then proceed through experiment planning, sample creation, testing, and scientific analysis—each step generating significant data that must be collected, organized, and analyzed. The existing infrastructure made it difficult to transform this data into actionable insights, prompting the need for change.

BASF’s Agricultural Research Division sought a solution to support their end-to-end workflow and data requirements, prioritizing flexibility, performance, and usability. They selected Dotmatics for its capabilities, including:

• ​A multimodal electronic laboratory notebook to capture experimental data across complex workflows.
• ​A scientific data management platform to aggregate and manage data from various sources.
• ​Data discovery tools to find, combine, and interpret data for informed decision-making.

To ensure a smooth transition, BASF implemented a phased-change plan, collaborating with Dotmatics on the “Data to Value” (D2V) initiative, which comprised three key projects:

• ​Project 1 – Data Visualization: Transitioned from spreadsheet-based analysis to a Dotmatics solution tailored for chemical data analysis, enabling deeper understanding and improved data-driven decisions.
• ​Project 2 – Search & Data Aggregation: Deployed Dotmatics’ scientific search solution to provide better access to the division’s extensive R&D data warehouse, encompassing various sources, legacy projects, and teams.
• ​Project 3 – Electronic Laboratory Notebook (ELN) Rollout: Adopted Dotmatics ELN with web-based data aggregation to support a wide range of complex experiments.

Each project was successful, positioning the BASF Agricultural Solutions division for enhanced innovation through improved access to R&D data and analytical tools. Specifically:

• ​Lab and bench scientists can efficiently capture, find, share, and utilize experimental data to drive further innovation.
• ​Project and team leaders, as well as data scientists, gain new insights through access to curated, cross-project data and advanced analytics.
• ​IT team members can better meet user needs using web-based updates and APIs.

Dr. Dickhaut summarized the impact: “Scientists need the ability to do a variety of searches, looking over multiple experiments or across many projects, if they have required permissions.” Dotmatics delivered on this need.