Sustainability Report 2023

Two Sustainable Science Cafés were the prelude to an exchange explicitly focussed on sustainable research during the Sustainable Semester. Both events were moderated by Eleonora Rohland (Faculty of History, Philosophy and Theology), who, as the Rectorate's representative in the participation process for the sustainability mission statement, was responsible for the Research Working Group, in which the need for increased networking between researchers arose.

The first meeting was dedicated to research operations. Dominik Schwarz (Faculty of Physics) kicked off the event with a short lecture and presented calculations and calculation methods for greenhouse gas emissions in the context of research projects that mainly utilise large-scale equipment. Using the example of astronomy and astrophysics, it became clear that ground-based research is less greenhouse gas-intensive than space-based research. The visitors then discussed the challenges and possible solutions. Concrete ideas included paying attention to the materials used when selecting the required equipment, optimising its service life and intensity of use and choosing a sustainable energy source for operating the equipment.

It became clear that systemic hurdles also make it difficult to organise research sustainably, such as the fact that third-party funding can usually be used to make investments but not to cover operating costs.

Participation in (international) conferences also increases the ecological footprint of a research project, but is in conflict with the fact that networking is an elementary component of research and contributes to the dissemination and improvement of one's own research work. A need for dialogue with funding bodies was also identified in order to work towards ensuring that sustainability criteria are given greater consideration in calls for proposals.

The second meeting focussed on the orientation of research content towards sustainability aspects. Caroline Müller (Faculty of Biology) gave an overview of research on sustainability at the university and discussed with those present the possibilities of supporting researchers in selecting their topics with regard to sustainable development and networking.

In the course of the Sustainable Science Cafés, the desire arose to create a networking opportunity between research projects at Bielefeld University that can be located in the broad field of sustainability. The idea behind it: Finding colleagues who are researching similar topics, utilising potential synergies or developing joint project ideas.