Sustainable Research Practice

In April 2024, the University signed the “Concordat for the Environmental Sustainability of Research and Innovation Practice”.

The aim of the Concordat is to ensure research and innovation continues to play a critical part in understanding how our planet is changing, while helping the sector to act responsibly to protect and promote our environment.

By signing this Concordat, signatories:

• recognise the need to change how we conduct research and innovation as well as promote wider solutions
• agree to take shared action now and in the future to reduce and eliminate our own negative environmental impacts and emissions and achieve the transition to sustainable practices.

Major research funders (UKRI, NIHR, British Academy) are signatories to the Concordat, and others (the Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research UK) have also updated their application requirements to include environmental sustainability as conditions of funding, as well as being signatories of the Concordat themselves.

Sustainable Research Practice at the University of Edinburgh

The University is working to embed sustainability across all of its activities, including research practice. This involves prioritising sustainable business travel and ensuring labs are furnished with the most resource-efficient equipment. 

Doing research in a sustainable manner has myriad benefits for the University and all of its researchers. These include: 

• efficiencies in resource use, saving time and money
• more competitive standing for research grants
• opportunities for training and career development
• opportunities for partnership and collaboration

Guidance and training 

A new SharePoint site and training course offers guidance for meeting the requirements of the Concordat and support for producing competitive funding applications. This includes guiding questions to answer on a project’s environmental sustainability and boilerplate text on The University’s goals, targets and strategies. 

Sustainable Research Practice: SharePoint

Sustainable Research Practice: Training Course 

Contact

For help and advice relating to research projects, please consult the Edinburgh Research Office in the first instance.

Edinburgh Research Office

If you have questions about partnerships and commercialisation, please contact Edinburgh Innovations.

Edinburgh Innovations

For further information on Sustainable Research and Innovation.

SRS Sustainable research and innovation practice page

For more information about the University’s Sustainability Commitments and programmes, please email: