Sustainability is also an important issue in laboratories - the reason behind a new student project being launched at Furtwangen University
Students at Furtwangen University develop ideas for resource-efficient research
A new project aimed at making laboratory operations in the life sciences more sustainable is set to launch at Furtwangen University (HFU) in the winter semester. In a challenge, teams of students will use artificial intelligence (AI) to develop strategies for reducing energy and water consumption, the volume of waste and the environmentally friendly use of materials and chemicals in the university's laboratories. The proposals developed will then be reviewed using a simplified life cycle analysis (LCA). The most convincing measures will be tested in an HFU model laboratory and, if proven effective, will be implemented.
“In this way, students actively participate in the improvement process and promote sustainability in both research and teaching. They will later take the findings from the project with them into their careers thus acting as multipliers for more sustainable work in the laboratory,” explains Dr. Angela Magin, coordinator of the project at the Faculty of Health, Medical & Life Sciences.
Students are familiar with using AI chatbots, but one challenge is evaluating the accuracy of AI responses. The project aims to examine how an AI chatbot can be systematically used in practice to optimise the sustainability of laboratories based on appropriate indicators previously defined by the project team. In the university-wide “Student Challenge,” students in interdisciplinary teams test AI strategies to develop sustainable solutions for a laboratory.
“This initiative combines interdisciplinary research, practical teaching, and targeted transfer — in this way, we are contributing to the development of sustainable solutions that could also be implemented at other universities and research institutions,” emphasises Prof. Dr. Christoph Reich, Vice-President for Research and Sustainability at HFU. In addition to direct implementation in the laboratories, the project aims to standardise the methods developed making them available to a broad specialist audience in the form of guidelines and scientific publications.
The “Student Challenge” is one of 29 projects in the state that the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts is funding as part of “BW-GreenLabs.”