10.18.2007 - 08:30am ET

(CSRwire) PITTSBURGH - October 18, 2007 - The Bayer Foundation announced today it has awarded a $90,000 grant to the University of Houston’s Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering (UH CHBE) to establish the Bayer Graduate Fellowship Program.

The fellowship, which is competitive with other prestigious fellowships from the National Science Foundation and elsewhere, will be awarded over a three-year period to a graduate student pursuing a doctoral degree in chemical engineering. The recipient will be identified from a pool of second year students seeking to complete his/her studies.

"We are extremely pleased to make this gift to the University of Houston, an institution whose chemical and biomolecular engineering department is consistently placed among the top echelon in the United States for the quality of its faculty, their scholarship and research projects, as well as the quality and number of Ph.D. engineering students it graduates each year," said Willy Scherf, President and CEO, Bayer Corporate and Business Services LLC.

According to UH's CHBE, the department graduates nearly one Ph.D. student per year per faculty member. Presently, there are 14 full-time faculty members in the department.

"As a leading producer of polymers and high-performance plastics, we at Bayer MaterialScience are also impressed with the department's particular strengths in the areas of chemical reaction engineering, process engineering and control, and mathematical modeling," said Gregory S. Babe, President and CEO, Bayer MaterialScience LLC. "We are very aware of the fact that the growth of biotechnology and materials, including polymeric and bio- or plant-based materials, is producing a new group of graduates highly skilled in specialty products spanning polymers and biomaterials and that many of these graduates are coming out the University of Houston CHBE program."

Both Bayer MaterialScience and Bayer Corporate and Business Services (BCBS) share a facility in Baytown, Texas.

"We are extremely grateful to the Bayer Foundation for this grant," said Mike Harold, chairman of the CHBE Department. "The University of Houston Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering is committed to producing doctoral students who have been educated in the fundamentals of our field and who have used that knowledge to carry out pioneering research. By establishing this fellowship, Bayer is helping us further this commitment."

About The Bayer Foundation

The Bayer Foundation is an endowed 501(c)(3) entity and is the primary source of Bayer Corporation's philanthropy in the United States. With a programmatic focus on civic and social service programs, education and workforce development, arts and culture, and health and human services, the Bayer Foundation creates and supports partnerships that improve communities in which Bayer employees live and work.

About Bayer Corporation

Bayer Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, is a subsidiary of Bayer AG, an international health care, nutrition and innovative materials group based in Leverkusen, Germany. In North America, Bayer had 2006 net sales of 7.8 billion euros and employed 17,200 at year end. Bayer's three subgroups, Bayer HealthCare, Bayer CropScience and Bayer MaterialScience, improve people's lives through a broad range of essential products that help prevent and treat diseases; protect crops and enhance yields; and advance automobile safety and durability. In addition, Bayer Corporate and Business Services provides business-critical services and market-competitive solutions to Bayer subgroups in the North American Region.

About University of Houston

The University of Houston, Texas' premier metropolitan research and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate, civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and service with more than 35,000 students.

About University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering

UH Cullen College of Engineering has produced five U.S. astronauts, ten members of the National Academy of Engineering, and degree programs that have ranked high nationally. With more than 2,600 students, the college offers accredited undergraduate and graduate degrees in biomedical, chemical, civil and environmental, electrical and computer, industrial, and mechanical engineering. It also offers specialized programs in aerospace, materials, petroleum engineering and telecommunications.

Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in our annual and interim reports filed with the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

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