Submitted by sjc313 on Thu, 09/10/2025 - 08:14
Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit colleagues working on Environmentally Sustainable Computing, led by Dr Loïc Lannelongue, have launched a digital sustainability certification scheme called Green DiSC with the first six Green DiSC Bronze Certifications awarded.
The energy and environmental footprint of AI is increasingly a source of concern in the context of the climate emergency. Funders such as the Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research UK now require researchers to hold laboratory sustainability certifications to apply for funding. Green DiSC is a framework to help researchers lower the carbon footprint of their computational research. The Green Disc scheme is managed from Cambridge (by Loïc’s team) and is hosted by the Software Sustainability Institute (a cross-institutions partnership between the Universities of Edinburgh, Manchester and Southampton). It is also supported by UKRI.
“It is wonderful to see the first round of certified teams after more than two years developing and testing Green DiSC. It is inspiring to see the research community stepping up and signalling that we cannot afford to ignore the environmental impacts of our digital research.”
— Dr Loïc Lannelongue, Green DiSC Lead, Senior Research Associate, Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge
Read details of the first Bronze Certification awardees. More than 100 teams are currently registered and working towards certification.
The next deadline to apply for certification is 19 November 2025. There is a CEU working group working on obtaining the certification, and for any query you can email Loïc (ll582@medschl.cam.ac.uk)
Green DiSC: a Digital Sustainability Certification | Software Sustainability Institute