Sustainability in Research Laboratories

Aims

This two-day workshop aims at equipping researchers and lab staff with knowledge, tools, and hands-on strategies to improve environmental sustainability in wet labs. Participants will:
· Be introduced to tools for measuring the environmental impact of their research activities
· Discuss concrete strategies for reducing the environmental impact of lab practices through weighting feasibility against impact
· Apply knowledge by developing an action plan for their own lab

Content

First session (4h):
· Carbon footprint and tools to measure it in a research context
· Identify the main contributors to your laboratory’s environmental impact and strategies to reduce it (purchases, business travel, energy use, chemicals, waste/plastics, water)
· Guidelines & certifications for sustainable practices in wet labs (LEAF)
· Overview of resources, infrastructure, and support available at the University of Basel & local initiatives

Homework (4h):
· Map practices in participants’ labs
· Identify 3-5 realistic improvements (aligned with LEAF criteria)
· Draft and implement lab-specific action plans

Second session (3h):
· Discussion of experiences with implementing these strategies
· Peer feedback
· Analysis of current state of lab using the LEAF criteria

Methods

· Inventory analysis (survey-based, individually)
· Lecturing, active participation in analysis of your own lab
· Implementation of discussed measures
· Plenary discussion on progress and obstacles

Target Group

All Doctoral Candidates & Postdocs

About the Trainer

Dr. Anna Kuonina Massé is Sustainability Manager in the School of Engineering and Life Sciences at EPFL and holds a PhD degree in water use and quality in Life Cycle Assessment (EPFL). She worked previously as a principal sustainability expert in an environmental sustainability consultancy. Expertise: Green labs, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of products and services, Science Based Targets, etc.

Mai-Phuong holds a master's degree in environmental and resource economics and has also worked in the fields of sustainable mobility and professional travel, as well as sustainability education for children.
Expertise: Green labs, sustainability events

Both trainers are working with scientists, students and admin staff at EPFL to build a more sustainable university, particularly focusing on estimating and lowering the carbon footprint of research labs.

Dr. Carina Weingaertner is Sustainability Manager at the University of Basel and leads several projects aiming at promoting sustainability in this University. She holds a PhD in Environmental Strategic Analysis (KTH, Sweden) and her work experience also includes several years in transdisciplinary research and teaching.

Workload

Total of 11h (course attendance 7h, self-study 4h)

Feature

Once registration is open, applications will be collected for 24 hours and course places allocated by lot. All registrations received after the initial 24h period will be put on a waiting list and assigned on a first come, first served basis.

Course places/places on the waiting list will be confirmed by e-mail. Course registrations can only be canceled before the registration period ends (send an e-mail to grace@unibas.ch). Full course attendance is mandatory. Participants who fail to attend a course without prior notification or withdraw after the registration deadline are subject to a fee of CHF 30. In addition, participants who cancel their course registration at a later point in time, are absent without an excuse or do not attend the entire course will, for reasons of fairness, not be considered for course registration in the following semester and will be removed from other courses offered in the same semester. Please find the detailed regulations on the Transferable Skills Homepage.