Environmentally Sustainable Research, in practice.
A hands-on workshop equipping researchers with practical strategies for reducing the environmental footprint of their work, across energy, waste, materials and procurement. Built to connect to the sustainability expectations your institution is already being asked to evidence.
How to take this course
Commission it for your cohort.
ORBIT paid courses are delivered bespoke for groups: cohort size, dates, exercises and case studies are tailored before delivery. We do not sell individual seats. Tell us what you are planning and we will reply within one working day with a suggested fit and a fixed quote.
Have an access code?
If your organisation has already commissioned this course and given you an ORBIT access code, you can open your lessons straight away. No account, no sign-up - the code unlocks the courses chosen for you.
Lost your code? Email contact@orbit-rri.org.What the workshop delivers.
The workshop covers the interconnection between research activity and environmental impact, from the lab bench to the data centre to the conference flight. We work through practical strategies for energy-efficient practice, waste reduction across consumables and outputs, materials and procurement choices, and how to communicate sustainability decisions inside teams, institutions and funder reporting.
Learning outcomes
- 01Identify where research activity generates the largest environmental impacts and where there is most room to act.
- 02Apply practical, evidence-based methods for energy efficiency, waste reduction and sustainable materials choice.
- 03Communicate sustainability work clearly to peers, supervisors, students and funders.
- 04Build sustainability commitments into ongoing research practice, not as a one-off intervention.
Who the course is for.
Designed for academics and industry researchers across the disciplines. Useful for PhD students at the point where they are establishing their own laboratory or fieldwork routines, and for R and D leads working out how to embed sustainability in standard operating procedures.
Pairs well with institutional LEAF or equivalent lab-sustainability programmes; we focus on the decision frameworks and engagement skills that accreditation alone does not teach.
Format and pricing.
One day, in person, at your institution, up to fifteen participants. Tailored to your discipline before delivery. Bespoke pricing scoped to the cohort, quoted in writing within a few working days. Talk to us to start.
Common questions.
Is environmental sustainability part of Responsible Research and Innovation?
Yes. Environmental impact is one of the consequences RRI asks researchers to anticipate and act on. The EPSRC AREA framework explicitly includes environmental impact in the Anticipate stage, and most current UK research funders ask applicants to set out how their work accounts for sustainability.
Does this course replace LEAF accreditation?
No. LEAF is an accreditation and assessment instrument for laboratories. ORBIT's training complements LEAF by giving researchers and teams the underlying concepts, decision frameworks and engagement skills they need to act on what an assessment surfaces.
Can the course be delivered to a non-laboratory research group?
Yes. While the laboratory examples are central, the course covers field research, computing, data work and office-based research practice. We foreground the examples most relevant to your group.
Pair with.
Talk to us about your cohort.
Tell us the cohort, the topics you need covered and rough timing. We reply within one working day.