AI-powered research collaboration platform connecting Worcester-area university researchers — Clark University, WPI, and College of the Holy Cross.
ResearchBridge helps researchers find complementary collaborators — not people doing the same thing, but people who have what you need. Type a plain-language description of your research and what you're looking for. The AI matches you with researchers across Clark, WPI, and Holy Cross based on keyword analysis and AI-powered synergy scoring.
- 🔍 AI-powered keyword matching — extracts topics from plain-language research descriptions and matches against a real researcher database
- 🤝 Complementary collaboration discovery — finds researchers who have what you need (datasets, methods, equipment, expertise)
- 💬 In-app messaging — direct message matched researchers
- 📰 Research feed — share updates, datasets, and collaboration calls
- 🔔 Notifications — connection requests, likes, follows
- 🔖 Bookmarks — save posts for later
- 🌐 Network tab — browse all 150 researchers across 3 universities
- 👤 Researcher profiles — detailed view with resources, match score, and synergy explanation
| University | Color | Researchers |
|---|---|---|
| Clark University | 🟢 Green | 50 faculty (IDs 1–50) |
| WPI | 🔴 Crimson | 50 faculty (IDs 51–100) |
| College of the Holy Cross | 🟣 Purple | 50 faculty (IDs 101–150) |
- Node.js 18+
- npm or yarn
- An Anthropic API key (optional — app works without it using keyword-only matching)
# 1. Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/researchbridge.git
cd researchbridge
# 2. Install dependencies
npm install
# 3. Set up environment variables
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env and add your Anthropic API key (optional)
# 4. Start the dev server
npm run devThe app runs at http://localhost:3000
npm run build
npm run previewresearchbridge/
├── public/
│ └── favicon.svg # ResearchBridge logo
├── src/
│ ├── main.jsx # React entry point
│ ├── ResearchBridge.jsx # Main application component
│ └── data/
│ └── researchers.js # 150 real Worcester-area researchers
├── index.html # HTML template
├── package.json # Dependencies
├── vite.config.js # Vite configuration
├── .env.example # Environment variable template
└── .gitignore # Git ignore rules
ResearchBridge is a frontend-only React application. There is no separate backend server.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Browser (React SPA) │
│ │
│ ┌─────────────┐ ┌────────────────┐ │
│ │ Keyword │ │ Researcher │ │
│ │ Matching │ │ Database │ │
│ │ Engine │ │ (150 entries) │ │
│ └──────┬──────┘ └────────────────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ ┌─────────────┐ │
│ │ Anthropic │◄── Optional API call │
│ │ Claude API │ for AI synergy text │
│ └─────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
- Keyword extraction — Parses the user's query into single words and multi-word phrases (e.g., "human computer interaction", "machine learning", "causal inference")
- Keyword scoring — Matches extracted keywords against each researcher's
keywords,abstract,field, andresourcesarrays. Multi-word phrases score higher (18pts vs 10pts) - Chip bonuses — Selected resource chips (Dataset, Computing, IRB Approval, etc.) add additional score
- AI enrichment — If an API key is present, Claude generates a specific one-sentence synergy explanation for each match. Otherwise, the app falls back to keyword-based descriptions
- Results — Top 5 matches shown with match score (0–100), matched keyword tags, and synergy explanation
| Variable | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
VITE_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY |
Optional | Anthropic API key for AI synergy descriptions. App fully works without it. |
⚠️ Never commit your.envfile. The.gitignorealready excludes it. For production, set environment variables in your hosting platform's dashboard.
# Install Vercel CLI
npm i -g vercel
# Deploy
vercel
# Set your API key in Vercel dashboard:
# Settings → Environment Variables → VITE_ANTHROPIC_API_KEYOr connect your GitHub repo at vercel.com for automatic deployments on every push.
- Connect your GitHub repo at netlify.com
- Set build command:
npm run build - Set publish directory:
dist - Add environment variable
VITE_ANTHROPIC_API_KEYin Site Settings → Environment Variables
The src/data/researchers.js file contains 150 real faculty members from:
- Clark University — Geography, Biology, Psychology, Physics, Chemistry, Economics, Environmental Science, History, Mathematics
- WPI — Computer Science, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Mathematical Sciences, Data Science, Electrical Engineering
- Holy Cross — Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics & CS, Psychology, Economics, Sociology & Anthropology, Political Science, History, Environmental Studies
Each researcher entry follows this schema:
{
id: 1,
name: "Hamed Alemohammad",
initials: "HA",
role: "Associate Professor · Geography",
uni: "Clark", // "Clark" | "WPI" | "HolyCross"
field: "Remote Sensing / GIS",
bg: "#D8F3DC", // Avatar background color
fg: "#1A3A2A", // Avatar text color
abstract: "Director of Clark's Center for Geospatial Analytics...",
resources: ["Satellite imagery archive", "Geospatial Analytics Center", ...],
keywords: ["remote sensing", "satellite", "GIS", "machine learning", ...],
connections: 198,
posts: 24,
papers: 41,
}Sources: Names, titles, and departments verified from public faculty pages at clarku.edu, wpi.edu, and holycross.edu. Research abstracts synthesized from documented public research areas (April 2025).
To add a researcher, append an entry to the RESEARCHERS array in src/data/researchers.js following the schema above. The keyword matching engine will automatically include them in search results.
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| Framework | React 18 |
| Build tool | Vite 4 |
| Styling | CSS-in-JS (template literal styles) |
| Fonts | Google Fonts (Fraunces, DM Sans, DM Mono) |
| AI | Anthropic Claude claude-sonnet-4-20250514 |
| State | React useState / useRef (no Redux) |
| Icons | Inline SVG |
- Fork the repo
- Create a feature branch:
git checkout -b feature/your-feature - Commit your changes:
git commit -m 'Add some feature' - Push to the branch:
git push origin feature/your-feature - Open a Pull Request
The most impactful contribution is verifying and expanding the researcher database. If you know a Clark, WPI, or Holy Cross researcher not listed:
- Add their entry to
src/data/researchers.js - Verify name, role, and department from their official university faculty page
- Write a 2–3 sentence abstract based only on their documented public research areas
- Submit a PR
MIT License — see LICENSE for details.
Built as a student project at Clark University, Worcester MA. Researcher data sourced from public faculty directories at Clark University, WPI, and College of the Holy Cross.
ResearchBridge — connecting Worcester's research community.