BioRAFT comes with base features that help organize a research center and provide the ground work for the addition of more advanced modules. Listed below are some of the base modules included.
Group and Role Management
Keeping track of who is in each lab and what roles lab members have is critical to proper oversight. This feature enables PIs or EH&S to lookup researcher names through the university directory system and assign them to one or more labs. It provides a way to assign roles to researchers based on individual activity and lab activity and can cluster roles to enable easy administration.
- Assigning researchers to labs using university directory lookup.
- Setting roles to drive requirements. (E.g. training requirements.)
- Delegation of PI duties to the Lab Members
Profile System
Profiles provide EH&S with a central place to see a summary of information and activities for a lab or an individual researcher. This enables quick oversight, navigation to full information, and a way for the labs to see their current status and activities. Also, any add-on module can be configured to display relevant information in the profile as well.
- Lab Profiles
- Lab contact info, lab members, bio-summary, rad-summary, training records, etc.
- Researcher Profiles
- Individual contact info, training records, rad badges, emergency info
- Pulls contact info directly from the university’s directory.
Note Tracker
This feature gives EH&S the capability to log and categorize notes about a lab or researcher to track correspondence summaries or specific research activities. These can be viewed only by other department members by going to the user’s or lab’s profile.
Notes can serve as a system of record for any aspect of research oversight and management and can help a new member of the EH&S team learn more about the labs it oversees.
Document Tracker
This module enables the uploading, categorization and attachment of documents to a laboratory profile.
Email and Notification System
This system simplifies the process of sending notifications or reminders to researchers and labs. It builds on the knowledge of who is in each lab, the lab roles, and researcher roles to create lists of researchers to email. Emails can be triggered automatically by an add-on module or can be sent manually by EH&S.
- The capability to automatically email users (for example, to notify a PI that it is time to renew their biological registration)
- Manual emails may be sent to an individual or to a group (a Lab, all RAD or Bio labs) based on locations (in specific buildings).
- Enables individuals to view emails sent to them by EH&S ensuring that no important emails are lost.
- All sent and received emails are viewable providing a system of record for EH&S.
Setup Wizards
The setup wizards provide an easy way to ensure new information is entered into the system by researchers. When new information is required, a wizard-like to-do list appears on login for an individual. This provides the researcher a clear process to follow so that they see what needs to be completed and in what order. Any module can be configured to utilize this system.
Setup Steps may also be used to ask labs to review information currently in the system. For example it can be configured to ask the PI or Lab Manager to confirm who is in their lab on a semi-annual basis.