Sustainable Research
Table of contents
Research can make a significant contribution to solving environmental and climate-related issues and provide scientific support for a sustainably reconstructed society. It maps the foundation for change towards a sustainable society and can itself be organized sustainably.
How can research be conducted sustainably?
Sustainability aspects can be taken into account not only with respect to the topic itself, but also when conducting research. We have compiled some initial tips, questions and ideas for the environmentally friendly and resource-saving design of research processes, which are also based on existing guidelines and information. These can be found in the adjacent link box.
Travel
- Could digital communication be explored instead of traveling for a comparable gain in knowledge or networking?
- Can an alternative means of transportation be chosen and air travel avoided?
- Can a quantitative estimate of the environmental impact of the project's travel requirements be provided?
- For organizing conferences: Could an online or hybrid meeting be a sensible alternative to face-to-face meetings?
Experiments/field tests/surveys
General
- Which methodological approaches offer the greatest potential to reduce resource consumption as well as climate, and environmentally harmful emissions to a relevant extent?
- Can the experimental design or the field test be better adapted to the scope required to answer the research question or can they be (partially) replaced by a simulation?
- Could experimental data already available elsewhere be used to improve work processes in terms of sustainability and make new measurements superfluous?
Laboratory, examination and consumable materials
- Is it possible to reduce or reuse consumables and laboratory supplies (at a reasonable cost) or to use recycled materials? Can glassware be used, hazardous substances reduced or substituted and can supply chains be taken into account? In this context, any emissions produced or resources consumed during transportation must also be taken into account.
- Could the cost of storing consumables be reduced by purchasing less? Would it be an option to invest less in the cooling of the examination material?
- Can sustainability labels be taken into account when procuring materials?
Computing power
- Can the computing power utilized be reduced? Can the effort be reduced by planning the simulations to be carried out even more efficiently? Can adjusting the model depth help reduce the simulation effort while maintaining a similar quality of results? Could existing simulation data be used?
- Can specific statements be made about the environmental impact of computationally intensive simulations (e.g. on the level of CO2 emissions)? Is it possible to use suppliers that use green electricity?
Equipment procurement and use
- Is it necessary to purchase new devices or can existing devices from other areas be used or repaired (e.g. in work groups close by)? Is the new appliance to be purchased more energy efficient than existing appliances that may need to be replaced?
- Are there ways to achieve an even more efficient use of resources and a reduction in emissions with regard to the service life and reparability of new purchases and the utilization of appliances?
- What considerations are there for the decommissioning of appliances, for example with regard to recycling?
- Can newly purchased devices also be used by other groups? Can you ensure regular maintenance?
- Can appliances be switched off after use or can timers be used so that they switch off automatically? Can users be instructed in how to use the equipment in a correct, resource-saving manner?
- Can devices that generate heat be separated?
Services for researchers
Research Information System
The Research Information System (FIS) provides an overview of research plans and projects as well as final theses at TU Dresden. It features a keyword search function. TU Dresden’s Research Information System enables users to perform targeted searches for research projects, publications and more. For example, one could filter search results according to the keywords “environmental relevance.”
PRISMA
PRISMA is the interdisciplinary Center for Sustainability Assessment and Policy at TU Dresden. Based on the vision that sustainability be measured and evaluated in various disciplines, PRISMA – Center for Sustainability Assessment and Policy – seeks to pool resources and take advantage of synergies. The focus is on questions of economically successful as well as ecologically and socially compatible long-term development, taking into account spatial and temporal conditions with innovative, interdisciplinary evaluation approaches. The objects of evaluation are wide-ranging and include systems, institutions, organizations, individuals, products, processes and materials. At PRISMA, TUD scientists collaborate with partner institutions from the DRESDEN-concept research alliance and beyond to research sustainability evaluation.