Why Sustainability Matters to Us

As a purely computational research group, our environmental footprint looks a bit different from traditional labs. We don’t use single-use plastics or physical reagents, but our work relies on significant computing power and data storage—both of which consume a lot of energy.

To us, sustainability means being mindful of how we use these digital resources. We are deeply committed to Open Science and developing efficient scientific software. By building highly reproducible workflows, we make sure that our data and codes are easily accessible to the community. This means other researchers don’t have to waste time and energy “reinventing the wheel” or running redundant computations. Better code means less wasted electricity!

Green Impact Laboratory Accreditation (GILA)

We are really happy to share that our group has been awarded the Green Impact Laboratory Accreditation!

Supported by the SOS-UK charity, this program is often associated with wet labs, but it gave us a wonderful framework to make our “dry lab” environment more eco-friendly too. It helped us evaluate our office habits, hardware lifecycles, and everyday energy use. Completing these standardized actions was a great team effort and a nice reminder that keeping our physical workspace green is just as important as writing efficient code.

Going Further: Working Towards Green DiSC

Because our core work lives in the digital realm, we want to do everything we can to understand and shrink our digital carbon footprint. That is why we are currently actively applying for the Green DiSC (Digital Sustainability Certification).

This open-access scheme is a fantastic, practical guide for computational researchers like us. It helps us reflect on our software engineering practices, data storage strategies, and processing habits. We are hoping that by continuously optimizing how we use computing resources, we can help lead by example and show that digital research can be both powerful and environmentally friendly.