To play our part in the mission to decarbonise the UK economy, we are helping UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to set out a plan to deliver carbon neutral computing by 2040 or sooner. We want to understand how you make use of digital resources - help us by filling in our survey, it will only take 15 minutes!

The survey will investigate the factors that motivate and those that act as barriers to the sustainable use of digital resources.

We want to know about people’s willingness to change how they use digital resources in a number of domains including research, data storage, and digital technology use, as well as more general behaviour at work or whilst studying. We want to find out how people’s responses to the survey relate to their attitudes towards sustainability and net zero targets.

Whilst our project is focussed specifically on digital research infrastructure, the survey has a broader scope because research relies on a variety of digital tools. Examples include:

  • using personal computers to connect to supercomputing facilities
  • hosting virtual meetings with applications like Zoom
  • cloud storage options are commonly used for storing and sharing files

We believe it is important to understand how digital infrastructures link together, and what are the key motivators and barriers for sustainable behaviour when using them.

Who can complete the survey?

We are looking for responses from researchers, support staff, students… indeed anyone involved in research and innovation in the UK. You may be someone who:

  • uses digital research infrastructure, at any stage in your research / research-related career
  • supports or enables research, but may not use digital infrastructure for research yourself
  • manages, maintains and operates digital research infrastructure
  • funds digital research infrastructure

With this survey we are aiming to get the broadest possible range of perspectives to minimise the risk that we have overlooked something, so please take part.

The responses from this survey will contribute to our final report which will be submitted to UKRI. The aim of the report is to provide evidence-based recommendations for getting the UKRI digital research infrastructure to net zero.

The survey questions will encourage you to tell us about what motivates you to consider the environmental impact of your work - and also what are the greatest barriers.

At the end of the survey, you will be asked to complete a computerised sorting task. This is a time reaction task and is designed to measure implicit attitudes to high carbon and low carbon.

The survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Please note this survey is not compatible with mobile devices and will only work on a laptop or desktop computer.

There is no mechanism to go back to previous pages once you have started the survey, so please think carefully about your responses before clicking next. If you feel your initial response would be different you may use the free response box to record your updated choice.

All of your responses will be completely anonymous, and you will not be asked to provide any identifiable information.

The deadline for completing the survey is Friday 9 December 2022. Take part here.