Bayer, indeed, is really interested about the future and all its possibilities overall regarding advancing health and nutrition. With people living longer and the population growing, everyone wants to stay healthy and have enough to eat. This is a huge challenge for the global community – and it’s what motivates and drives Bayer. Every day the mission of Bayer is to invest its knowledge and skills to work on behalf of humankind, inventing and delivering products that help make life just a little better.

With its core business, Bayer has a major impact on societal development. At the same time, it depends on intact social framework conditions and an innovation-friendly business environment. For Bayer, it is therefore important to contribute to society’s future viability and to create value in diverse ways. Within the scope of its social commitment, Bayer is active in a variety of ways in the core fields of education and science, health and social needs, and sports and culture. With its foundations, the Bayer Group promotes cutting-edge research, talented individuals and innovative educational and social projects. In 2016, Bayer provided over 48 million euros for these activities. As with its business operations, Bayer’s social commitment is based on innovation and pioneering spirit.

Bayer concentrates its commitment on four fields of action: Education and research, Health and social needs, Sports and Culture. In many regions of the world, Bayer is committed to improving the health care and better social living conditions. For this purpose, Bayer cooperates with partners in international programs and support local initiatives.

Another field of activity of the Bayer social foundation is the disaster relief. In case of disasters, the company offers immediate relief in the form of donations and the Foundation supports long-term reconstruction projects people who are in distress. 

One of Bayer’s successful programs was the “The World Contraception Day Ambassadors” that takes place every year and each one 10 new World Contraception Day Ambassadors that will use the power of technology, advocacy and youth engagement to transform the landscape of contraception in their communities. They are strong change makers”, says Katja Iversen, CEO of Women Deliver. This partnership is designed to promote the shared goals of both organizations and utilizes the successful work of the Women Deliver’s Young Leaders Program.

Bayer has also been actively involved in supporting culture and sports for more than a century, thereby making a sustainable contribution to the cultural life and sports opportunities at its sites in Germany. In 2016 the company provided funding of some 12 million euros for recreational, disabled and competitive sports activities. 

Bayer is one of Germany's biggest sports patrons and sports sponsors. Ever since beginning of the 20th century, Bayer began sponsoring sports clubs in the communities surrounding its production sites in order to help its employees make constructive use of their leisure time. Fast-forwarding to the present day, few companies support such a wide range of sporting activities.

Bayer sponsors both elite and recreational sports in the communities surrounding its sites. Bayer has always demonstrated a particular commitment to disabled sports and felt a sense of responsibility for encouraging youth sports.

Bayer also invests in funding different programs, such as fundamental and industrial research, which represents an investment in future development and value creation. The Bayer Science & Education Foundation therefore honors outstanding research achievements with scientific awards. The funding programs cover the entire scientific training and career path of young people.

Scholarships are granted exclusively to students from German-speaking countries wishing to study abroad, or to foreign students who are interested in a study project in Germany. Bayer imparts scientific education and knowledge through hands-on experiments in Bayer’s laboratories for school students (BayLabs). In addition, the Making Science Make Sense (MSMS) educational initiative, which was founded in the United States, is implemented in 14 countries on four continents around the world.

Bayer has been a corporate sponsor of “Jugend forscht” since 1966. As an inventor company, Bayer aims to support talented youths in the natural sciences and engineering, and each year hosts the state competition for participants from North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW) at the Baykomm Communication Center.

The aim of the joint project sponsored by the German Federal Government, stern magazine, businesses and schools is to pique interest in these fields, foster particularly talented youths and support them in their academic and career choices.