Research Connector Hub — Project Home

Progress & Updates (July 2026)

The Flask app is ahead of schedule and can support a University of Lethbridge pilot once infrastructure is ready. It is not yet open to other institutions.

Recently delivered

Researcher discovery: Discovery and Research Neighborhood explorers, semantic embeddings with hybrid ranking, graph views, and CSV/JSON export
Researcher profiles: claim/edit/publish, generated and custom profile sections with visibility/order controls, activity and collaboration signals
Partner experience: login-required intake, draft save/resume, request attachments, status explanations, partner-safe history, organization member management
Admin operations: match review, outreach CRM, CSV/XLSX import review, Network Explorer with saved views and annotations, researcher activity visibility, Help portals and Admin Wiki
Research Engine: admin workbench with deterministic baseline and optional OpenAI / DigitalOcean-compatible provider output attached for human review
Quality & security: CSRF protection, rate limiting on sensitive flows, Playwright browser tests, axe accessibility scans, search-index export and Meilisearch integration tests

Architecture changes

PWA removed (July 2026) — no installable/offline app in Year 1 planning
Partnership intake requires login — anonymous public submission retired
Shared file-storage foundation added (local backend); production object storage still planned
Dependency management moved to uv / pyproject.toml

Open launch blockers

Clean MySQL migration + seed validation
Live SMTP / email provider verification
Manual WCAG 2.2 AA / keyboard / responsive QA
Broader admin scoping and retention/privacy sign-off
Durable object storage (S3/Spaces) for production files

SDLC — First Year (July 2026 – June 2027)

July 2026 MVP baseline complete; documentation package refreshed for copy-back Done
By Aug 31, 2026 Provision application server + managed MySQL database; secrets, TLS, backups, non-public staging deploy
Sep – Oct 2026 Production validation: clean migrations/seed, SMTP, backup/restore drills, security & accessibility QA
Nov 2026 RINSA / stakeholder demonstration; operator training; invite-only profile population
Dec 2026 – Mar 2027 Staged ULethbridge pilot: draft profiles, claims, intake cases, reviewed matches, structured feedback
Apr – Jun 2027 Feedback-driven improvements; optional second institution (written agreement required); Year 1 report

Realistic Year 1 goals

Metric	Target
Quality draft / imported profiles	75–100
Claimed / published profiles	30–50
Genuine intake submissions	10–20
Approved matches / partnerships	3–8
Trained operators	2–4
Structured feedback sessions	4
Additional PSI	0–1 (written agreement required)

Full stages, launch gates, architecture, and costs: SDLC proposal.

Meeting Notes — June 22, 2026

Stakeholder feature requests with implementation status as of July 2026.

Request	Status
Network exploration / embedding neighbourhood for researchers	Implemented
Admin researcher activity & profile visibility	Implemented
Profile section control (visibility, order, custom sections)	Implemented
Researcher collaboration / activity dashboard	Implemented
Partner request attachments; draft save/resume	Implemented
Shared file storage (workspace, library, evidence)	Partial — architecture + local backend; workspace/S3 pending
Researcher document library & AI enrichment suggestions	Partial / planned
Message attachments	Planned
Keywords & research interests over time	Planned
External identity providers (ORCID, LinkedIn, …)	Planned — design only

Full meeting context and action items: guidelines.

Project Documents

SDLC Proposal

Current delivery baseline: stages, timeline, launch gates, Year 1 goals, architecture, and costs.

Open proposal →

Guidelines

Strategic plan, platform requirements, pilot scope, and meeting notes.

Open guidelines →

Questions

Items for committee discussion and decisions on pilot scope, funding, and Year 1 priorities.

Open questions →

Schedule

Past and current milestones through the August 31, 2026 infrastructure gate.

Open schedule →

Data Summary

Field-oriented overview of data domains. Operational schema truth lives in app models/migrations.

Open data summary →

UI Mockups

Dated planning screens with synthetic data — kept for design history only. The live Flask app has moved past them.

View mockups →

Note on mockups: the mockup templates predate the working application and show aspirational UI, sample statistics, and retired concepts (public intake, PWA). Consult the SDLC proposal and guidelines for current status.