Know your footprint — Evaluation of the professional carbon footprint for individual researchers in high energy physics and related fields

Abstract As the climate crisis intensifies, understanding the environmental impact of professional activities is paramount, especially in sectors with historically significant resource utilisation. This includes High Energy Physics (HEP) and related fields, which investigate the fundamental laws of our universe. As members of the young High Energy Physicists (yHEP) association, we investigate the CO 2 -equivalent emissions generated by HEP-related research on a personalised per-researcher level, for four distinct categories: Experiments , tied to collaborations with substantial infrastructure; Institutional , representing the resource consumption of research institutes and universities; Computing , focussing on simulations and data analysis; and Travel , covering professional trips to conferences, etc. The findings are integrated into a tool for self-evaluation, the Know-your-footprint (Kyf) calculator, allowing the assessment of the personal and professional footprint and optionally sharing the data with the yHEP association. The study aims to heighten awareness, foster sustainability, and inspire the community to adopt more environmentally responsible research practices urgently.