FAQs

By ‘ultra-low temperature freezer’ (ULT freezer), we mean freezers that store samples at extremely low temperatures and typically operate in the range of –80 °C to –40 °C. Units within this temperature range are classified as ULT freezers under the Freezer Challenge.

A laboratory team within the Freezer Challenge is a group of at least two people who use or have access to the same ultra-low temperature freezer(s) (ULT freezers) in their day-to-day research or laboratory work. A laboratory team may be organised within a work area, a research group, a project or a shared laboratory space. It is important that the team members share the ULT freezer(s) in use and can therefore work together as a unit to implement improvements in their use and management.

A laboratory team may participate with one or more ULT freezers. It is important that the number of ULT freezers with which a laboratory team wishes to participate is specified on the registration form. 

Certain measures must be carried out for a minimum number of registered ULT freezers in order to ensure the quality of the challenge. We are also interested in finding out how many freezers are in use on average in the laboratories, as we do not yet have any information on this.

Yes, in this specific case, it is possible to achieve the Bronze Level even if the measure cannot be implemented. The security of the samples can no longer be guaranteed if the measure is implemented. In this case, please make a note to that effect on the checklist.  

In some cases, yes – for example, if your ULT freezer was already set to –70°C before the Challenge, or in the case of maintenance work, depending on how frequently it is carried out. For laboratory teams that are already committed to climate-conscious freezer management beyond our Challenge checklist, this will be taken into account particularly at the Gold Level – in recognition of additional commitment that goes beyond our requirements.

However, the following applies to many measures in the checklist: only measures that were implemented or reviewed during the Challenge period (29 April – 30 October 2026) should be recorded. This rule ensures that those laboratory teams are taken into account that have actually implemented new improvements during this period.

Our team is happy to answer any questions you may have. Please send all enquiries to: klimaschutz@tum.de with the subject line “TUM Freezer Challenge”. 

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