ResearchChannel has invited New Zealand researchers to take part in the public beta test of Research1.

Research1 is a web-based collaboration platform that allows researchers to quickly and easily collaborate with peers and share information with the general public.

Use of Research1 is free – all they ask for in return is your valuable feedback.

Key benefits

• Public access to the fruits of government-funded research, even while it is in progress
• Direct interaction with and between experts at the leading edge of their respective disciplines
• Participation in a community that encourages and supports a level of discourse not commonly available to those outside of academia

How it works 

Individual researchers or teams can establish a Research1 "Project Hub" for each research project.

This public-facing webspace may contain up to 10 GB of text, photographs, audio and video that may be shared with the general public or act as a private collaboration space.  

A simple set of Web-based tools are provided to create each Project Hub, upload and publish content, launch a blog to discuss ongoing work and facilitate interaction through project- or discipline-specific e-mail forums.

How to take part 

To participate in the Research1 beta test, visit http://betasignup.research1.org.

Your feedback about the platform and suggestions for features you would like to see in future releases will be extremely helpful.

Further information

If you have questions about the project, please contact Jim DeRoest (deroest@washington.edu) or Gary Bissiri (gbissiri@washington.edu ).

Jim DeRoest
Director, Technology Initiatives
ResearchChannel (http://www.researchchannel.org/)
University of Washington

Presentation by the architects of Research1 (October 2007)