Responsible & Sustainable Computational Research Workshop

Work Smarter, Compute Better: Efficient HPC, Data Storage & AI in Practice.

If you use HPC, GPUs, or large research datasets, this workshop is for you!

Small changes in how you design workflows, write code, choose CPUs vs GPUs, and manage data storage can:

Improve performance and speed up results

Reduce compute and storage costs

Increase reproducibility and reliability

Lower energy use without slowing your research

Strengthen your grant competitiveness

This session focuses on practical, low-effort improvements you can apply immediately. We’ll explore:

Smarter use of HPC and GPUs

Better data storage and retention decisions

Tools such as GreenDiSC to understand and reduce computational impact

How to build a community of researchers who are ahead of the curve

Sustainable computational research isn’t about doing less.
It’s about doing it better and responsible.

Join a growing community at King’s that is redefining what high-performance, responsible research looks like. Be part of the discussion to work smarter.

Organised by Dr Marcelo Salierno (Sustainability Innovation Lead, KCL), Dr Santiago Madera (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, ICR), Dr Liz Ing-Simmons (Senior Research Software Engineer, KCL) & Dr Lucy Menage (Sustainable Cold Storage Analyst, KCL)

Join us in person or online for session 1 and 2 which will take place in lecture theatre 2, New Hunt's House. For the afternoon, session 3 will be round table discussions held only in-person with limited availability. Please also indicate if you would like to participate in the evening social at a local pub, location TBC! Different and multiple ticket types can be selected at checkout. Breakfast and lunch will be provided by the Root-to-tip project, KCL. Please bring food containers to reduce food waste.

Workshop Agenda

Location - Guys New Hunt's House Lecture Theatre 2

9:30 – 10:00 | Arrival & Breakfast

Introduction: Why Sustainable Computing Matters

An opening session to set the scene for the workshop, outlining why sustainability in computational research matters for research quality, cost, and long-term viability.

Introduction - Chair: Santiago Madera

Welcome by the organisers 

Talk from Adrian Friday (University of Lancaster) 

Session 1: Sustainable Data Management

10:30 – 11:30 | Session 1: Sustainable Data Management - Chair: Gefion Thuermer

As research data volumes grow, sustainable data practices are essential for reproducibility, cost control, and environmental responsibility.

Topics include:

• Data management best practices
• Data archiving strategies
• Open research and sustainable data sharing

Speakers:

• James Wilson (UCL) – Talk on data management best practices
• Jonathan Monk (Institute of Cancer Research) – Talk on data archiving approaches
• Sara Villa (OLS) – Talk on open research practices

11.30-11.50 - Comfort Break

Session 2: Sustainable High-Performance Computing

11:50 – 11:30 | Session 1: Sustainable High-Performance Computing - Chair: Loïc Lannelongue

How can we use HPC systems, CPUs, GPUs, and AI infrastructure more responsibly without compromising research quality?

Topics include:

• Measuring and understanding HPC usage
• Sustainable AI and machine learning practices
• “Reasonable performance” computing: when efficiency beats raw speed

Speakers:

• Rachel Alcraft (Institute of Cancer Research) – Talk on measuring HPC usage in practice
• Gabrielle Samuel (KCL) - Talk on Sustainable AI/ML 
• Robert Chisholm (University of Sheffield) – Talk on reasonable performance computing

Room change: Guy's Henriette Raphael, Jean Hanson room 

12:50 - 13:50 | Lunch break

Session 3: From Insight to Action

13:50- 15:30 Session 3: A facilitated, discussion-led session focused on turning ideas into action -  Chair: Liz Ing-Simmons

Participants will work in small groups to identify:

• Immediate practical changes they can make
• Long-term ambitions for sustainable research
• Barriers to implementation
• Institutional and funder support needed

Includes:

• 3 x 20-minute rotating roundtables
• Closing reflections and next steps

Evening social - 4pm onwards The Horseshoe Inn

26 Melior St, London SE1 3QP, UK

thehorseshoeinnpub.co.uk/index