Let us be clear at the outset: Those who believe that it is not easy for a company to look for help in science and technology outside its own organization are right. Nothing that has been said about the difficulties of overcoming the Not Invented Here syndrome, or initiating a dialogue between two worlds as different as those of academic research and industry, is inaccurate. All of this is almost obvious. We experienced it in the past, and are still experiencing it every day at Elf Aquitaine. However, we are also experiencing the emergence of an irreversible process: an opening of our company to the outside world in all its activities. The people in the divisions have put this process into action through such agreements as the one that links Elf Sanofi, our pharmaceutical subsidiary, and Sterling Drug to develop and market new products; or the one linking Rohm and Haas with Elf Atochem, our chemicals subsidiary, concerning polymethyl methacrylate plastics. We in the RD meaningful experiments are costly, and must be carefully considered in advance and correctly interpreted afterward. What is required is a better understanding (cynics would say some understanding) of our processes and products. A scientific approach is thus perceived as an increasingly useful tool for our industrial developments. On the other hand, the integration of new technologies is most often closely linked with good access to science. Often, new technologies are born in the academic world before they are transplanted into industry for development. At a time when everyone is looking for advanced information, close relationships with university laboratories bring us in direct contact with emerging technologies that may have a relevance for our markets in the medium to long term. Last but not Least, educational institutions and, to a lesser extent, government research centers are training grounds for industry staff, especially in RD thus, competition for scientifically trained personnel is a real concern for our company, and a continuous interaction with the best universities is an excellent support for our recruiting. To sum up, we are convinced that industry must include science as one of its strategic tools, and we ensure that our R&D organization provides access to it in an efficient way. FROM A NATIONAL TO A WORLDWIDE EFFORT Elf Aquitaine has always tried to benefit to the fullest from what we call in France research, that is to say, research performed in the French universities or government-funded research centers. Indeed, we are one of the two or three companies in France that have the most interaction with that public research. We decided nearly 20 years ago to implement this policy simply because, unlike IBM or the former AT&T, we could not make the considerable long-term financial commitment necessary to set up our own basic research facilities. When this policy was launched in the late 1970s, it seemed to be a pioneering venture at a time when industry and academia were barely talking to each other, especially in France. …