Collaborating for innovation Delivering integrated solutions Research and  Development continued In addition to quality seeds and chemicals,  we have enabled the development of solutions  that integrate our technologies. PLENE ®  has the  potential to revolutionize the way sugar cane is  grown (see page 26). TEGRA ™  will deliver a step  change in rice productivity through a unique  combination of seeds, seed care, agronomy  and mechanization (see page 25).  To help address the challenge of feeding  9 billion people by 2050, and in addition to  employing over 5,000 highly qualified scientists,  we work with partners to complement our  in-house expertise. We currently have over 400 collaborations  around the world with universities, research  institutes and commercial organizations,  including with peers where there are clear  opportunities for synergy.  In Europe, Syngenta is demonstrating its deep  understanding of wheat and barley through  unique integrated growing systems: a  combination of seeds and variety-specific crop  protection products specially combined for  optimum plant establishment, pest control and  yield. We have recently introduced the only  commercially available barley hybrid and will be  further developing our hybrid solutions in barley  and also in wheat.  Syngenta THOUGHTSEEDERS ™  is our new  online portal for helping to identify new  opportunities and gives potential partners a  forum to share new technologies or ideas with  us. This opens the business to completely new  initiatives. We also use this platform to pose  specific challenges to a broad audience using  an external open innovation network. We are  broadening our culture of collaboration to work  across boundaries inside Syngenta. New tools  and networks are helping us to engage all the  expertise within Syngenta, particularly the  grower insights of our commercial teams. In 2011, we established new global platforms,  underpinning all our R&D activities, which will  allow us to share our expertise across crops  and regions. For example, by uniting our crop  protection and seeds field trialing capabilities  we can apply our skill-sets more broadly and  leverage our technologies across the globe  to improve our offer. The quality of our in-house science and expertise  continues to be recognized. In 2011, two people  closely involved with the invention of our two best  selling products received external recognition.  Syngenta Fellow John Clough won the 2011  Creativity in Industry Prize from the UK’s Royal  Society of Chemistry, notably for his work on  the fungicide azoxystrobin. Peter Maienfisch  received the Medal of the Slovak Chemical  Society in recognition for his engagement  in collaborations with local companies and  academia over more than 20 years, and his  work on thiamethoxam, which became the  world’s top-selling insecticide in 2011. We continue to invest in our biotechnology  capability worldwide. In 2011, we opened  an award-winning new facility in Beijing for  Syngenta Biotech China and began building  a US$ 71 million extension at our US  biotechnology campus in North Carolina. Product safety and environmental considerations  are integral to our work. To make earlier and  better-informed decisions on which active  ingredients to progress, we begin safety trials  at an early stage in the development process.  This facilitates early decision making and timely  engagement with regulators, enabling us to  bring new products and solutions to market  fast and efficiently. Our global capabilities Syngenta Annual Review 2011 34