Resources, Mission and Network

Developing transversal competencies through academic and research partnerships also with Saint-Gobain Research centres across the world

About SGRI

Saint-Gobain Research India (SGRI) is the 7th cross-functional R & D center for the Saint-Gobain Group. SGRI supports and develops existing and new businesses in India and provides and nurtures future talent for the Group in India. SGRI collaborates with local universities and external partners to produce solutions for sustainable habitat in hot-humid climates. This center develops transversal competencies including academic partnerships and interfaces with other R & D centers across the world to accelerate business growth. SGRI has entered into a MoU with Indian Institute of Technology Madras Research Park (IITMRP) as the ‘anchor client’ for the next phase and will move into the new building by the end of 2015.

SGRI works on improving manufacturing processes, from raw materials to adding new functions to our end product. SGRI does it through collaborative work, project management. Our researchers are quickly integrated into multidisciplinary teams and they take part in research program in collaboration with marketing and production.

Saint-Gobain's response to the challenges of sustainable development is informed by values shared by our entire corporate community. These values are described in the Group Principles of Conduct and Action. These are the fundamental values that unite corporate leaders and employees and shape each team member's conduct and the performance of their duties.

Mission

The primary mission is to provide active and forward looking support for the Group's various businesses, leading to developments and innovations in terms of both products and processes, to serve our current markets and enhance our businesses' competitive edge.

The second mission is to contribute to the groups technological innovation and enable it to penetrate new markets. In line with the Groups' development and leadership strategy on housing and construction markets, it must support in the development of technologies to meet the challenges of growth, energy and the environment.

Resources

Saint Gobain invested 430 million euros in research and development at its main R&D centres and the one hundred or more development units established throughout the world, which employ 3,700 research workers, in 2013.

Network

The Saint-Gobain University Network shows Saint-Gobain to benefit from the most recent scientific advances made by the academic world and gain access to extremely high level skills. This approach also makes it possible to increase the pool of researches via theses and post-doctorate that makes it easier to employ highly qualified managers in countries that are strategic for the Group.

This has led to contracts being signed with

• The CNRS in France
• Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the universities of Santa Barbara(CA), of Penn State (PA) and of UMASS(MA) in the United States
• The Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, India
• The University of Aachen in Germany
• The University of Moscow in Russia
• The National Institute of Material Science (NIMS) in Japan