About the project or challenge area

Software, which pervades more and more areas of societal life, has become the invisible driver of our business practices, home routines, and leisure activities. But what effect does software have on sustainability: does it relive or exacerbate resource overconsumption, energy waste, societal isolation, personal stress? This project will design empirical studies to assess the sustainability impact of a software system, consider the suitable quantification metrics for the environmental, societal, economic, and political impact of software systems, and undertake evaluation for a few sample case studies to demonstrate the proposed impact assessment approach.

Why choose this project?

By undertaking this project you will:

• Have an opportunity to engage inform Software Engineering discipline on the sustainability impact of the software products (through dissipation of own work via conferences and workshop publications);
• Work as a part of an international research team, participating in meetings and collaborations across the world;
• Co-author research paper and reports (and, as appropriate, attend international conferences to present own work).

About you

Background in Software Engineerings is advantageous (i.e., knowledge of programming languages, and ability to read/understand software design and requirements documentation).

How to apply

All students can apply using the button below, following the Admissions Statement (PDF, 188kB). Please note that this is an advertised project, which means you only have to complete Section A of the Research Statement.

This project is not funded, for further details please use this link.

Before applying, we recommend getting in touch with the project's supervisors. If you are interested in this project and would like to learn more about the research you will be undertaking, please use the contact details on this page.