Have you ever wondered about the wider costs of your lab’s daily research practice? Have you ever speculated whether your lab’s scientific methods can be changed or made more efficient? Or maybe, you know that they can be made more efficient but frustratingly you do not have the means to make that happen?
Be it waste, water, energy or consumable use, our teaching and research laboratories are hotspots of the university’s environmental footprint – but they are also the playground for creative, innovative solutions that can make a significant impact in sustainable scientific research.
At the Cambridge Zero Postgraduate Academy, we’re looking to bring together the laboratories of the University of Cambridge as we search for sustainable laboratory solutions. We want to hear your suggestions for more sustainable labs that could facilitate greener science. The winning team(s) will be supported to carry out their proposal where possible, and may receive up to £4,000 of funding, subject to the approval of their implementation plan.
We are looking for solutions that adapt and improve the sustainability of existing research and methods in the laboratory. The suggested initiative should not be a pitch for a new research project.
Who can enter?
If you are based in a teaching or research laboratory in the University of Cambridge, you are eligible to enter – regardless of the department and whether you are an undergraduate, postgraduate, postdoc, visiting student, laboratory technician or research assistant. Submissions should be made in teams consisting of one or more people. Principal investigators are not eligible.
How to enter?
Round 1: October-November 2024
Your team should submit a pitch of your idea using the template provided, detailing how it meets the criteria. A maximum of one pitch is allowed per individual/team.
To enter, please use the template here, and submit your entries to sustainability@ch.cam.ac.uk by 9am GMT on Monday 11th November.
Entries will be assessed by our panel of expert judges by the end of the Michaelmas term based on the marking criteria outlined below.
Round 2: December 2024-February 2025
Shortlisted entries will be invited to produce and submit a video during Lent Term, showcasing their idea and detailing the potential implementation of their solution.
Project Showcase: March 2025
We will host an awards evening in the Department of Chemistry to celebrate our winners and to share excellent sustainable laboratory practice at the end of Lent Term. The winner(s) will be supported in the implementation stage of their sustainable laboratory solution where possible, with the potential to secure up to £2,000 of funding for implementation. The University’s Carbon Reduction Fund may provide an opportunity to scale your solution if your initial implementation phase is successful.
Marking Criteria:
Please note criteria are weighted.
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Potential for impact (up to 20 points)
Your proposal should aim to quantify, as far as possible, the reduction in environmental impacts of your laboratory solution. This may be considered in the widest sense, including but not limited to those from:
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Energy and water consumption - including energy use from heat and electricity (provided as kWh) and water volume (m3) specifying type (i.e. tap water / purified)
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Materials - equipment, reagents and consumables - consider lifetime of equipment and specify where items are single use. Provide details on quantities and describe how it may support the circular economy (linking to 3)
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Waste production - specify type, weight and position in waste hierarchy. Any potential downstream impacts of waste may also be included e.g. eutrophication, acidification and eco-toxicity
We encourage full life cycle consideration to estimate the impact of your proposed solution. You may want to provide a carbon assessment using GHG carbon emission factors and/or refer to life-cycle assessment impact criteria.
We would also welcome proposals that consider other societal impacts, including education and health.
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Innovation and creativity of your solution (up to 5 points)
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Scalability of the potential solution’s impact across other labs, within the university and beyond (up to 5 points)
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Potential return on investment with respect to cost vs. impact (up to 5 points)
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Feasibility of implementation within your lab’s context (up to 5 points)
Our expert judges will be able to award an extra 5 points at their discretion.
The organising committee reserve the right to disqualify entries that do not meet a minimum standard of the marking criteria.
Competition terms and conditions
These terms and conditions apply to the Cambridge Zero Postgraduate Academy’s Search for Sustainable Laboratory Solutions (“the Competition”). By submitting an entry to the Competition, entrants confirm that they have read and understood these terms and conditions and agree to be bound by them.
Eligibility
1. All entries must be from members of laboratories within the University of Cambridge. Principal Investigators are not eligible to enter. Multiple entries can be submitted by the same laboratory, but individuals can only contribute to a maximum of one of these.
2. Any questions regarding eligibility shall be determined by Cambridge Zero Postgraduate Academy, whose determination shall be final. If unsure of eligibility, entrants should contact sustainability@ch.cam.ac.uk before submitting an entry.
3. Cambridge Zero reserves the right to require reasonable evidence of eligibility and a feasible implementation plan before awarding funding.
General
4. The deadline for submission of entries to the first round is 09:00 GMT on Monday 11th November 2024.
5. Teams must generate proposals for a specific solution to make their laboratory’s research more sustainable, in accordance with the marking criteria.
6. Cambridge Zero Postgraduate Academy seeks to fund and recognise new initiatives and ideas. To be considered in the Competition, the proposals cannot have been fully implemented already in their research lab at the point of entry into round 1. Projects that build on/expand existing sustainability initiatives and projects are still eligible to apply.
7. Cambridge Zero Postgraduate Academy reserves the right to hold void, suspend, cancel, or amend the Competition at its discretion.
Prize award and Funding
8. Proposals will be judged on the basis of the published judging criteria. The judges’ decision is final and the University will not enter into correspondence regarding the outcome of the Competition. Feedback will be provided at the Academy’s discretion. Cambridge Zero Postgraduate Academy reserves the right to award prizes dependent on the quality of Competition submissions and may not award one or more prizes where entries do not meet requisite standards.
9. Funding is available for sustainable laboratory projects recognised through this competition. It will be awarded at the discretion of the Cambridge Zero Postgraduate Academy, and will be dependent on the submission of a satisfactory implementation plan and budget. Award winners will also be expected to share the learnings from implementing their sustainable labs solution with other university labs and stakeholders in Cambridge.
10. The University does not commit to taking forward any proposals but if it does go on to provide funding it further reserves the right to elect not to proceed further with and to cease funding a successful project at any time at its sole discretion.
11. Aside from the prizes, Teams will not be compensated for their time or costs incurred in developing proposals for the Competition.
Data protection
12. Cambridge Zero Postgraduate Academy will collect and process entrants’ personal information (names, contact details, any personal information supplied in competition entries) for the purpose of administering the Competition and contacting entrants as necessary. For these purposes the University is a data controller in respect of entrants’ personal data. Cambridge Zero Postgraduate Academy will share entrants’ personal information with a limited number of third parties solely in connection with the administration of the Competition. In addition, Cambridge Zero Postgraduate Academy may wish to issue and manage publicity arising from the Competition and Cambridge Zero Postgraduate Academy will liaise with entrants about this as applicable.
