If you work in a research lab or academic group, you’ve probably faced the challenge of coordinating and sharing resources with colleagues. Fragmented file sharing, unclear permissions, and never-ending email chains can lead to confusion—and lost time. That’s why more and more molecular modelers are organizing their collaborative work in SAMSON Connect through an underused but powerful feature: Groups.
Whether you’re a PI managing a team, a graduate student working on a thesis with external collaborators, or simply working on multi-author research, setting up a group in SAMSON can streamline how you manage computational projects, datasets, and jobs. Here’s how it works and why it’s worth your attention.
What are Groups in SAMSON?
Groups in SAMSON Connect let you create spaces—public or private—where you can share documents, jobs, SAMSON Extensions, and more. Think of them as collaborative “folders” with customizable access rights and role-based controls.
You can manage an unlimited number of groups tailored around your work: one per project, per course, per lab, or even per paper. Each group has:
- Visibility: Make groups public to engage the broader community or private for confidential work.
- Membership control: Invite collaborators by username, name, or email, and manage their roles (member, editor, etc.).
- Custom joining rules: Decide who can apply or invite others.
How to Set Up a Group
It all starts in the Groups section of your user menu on SAMSON Connect. Once you create a group (and become its owner), you can:
- Edit the group profile: Name, description, image, and visibility.
- Invite members manually or by email—even if they don’t yet have SAMSON accounts.
- Assign roles and set end-dates for access, which is especially useful for rotating students or temporary collaborators.
Adding members is straightforward. Click Add a member and search by username, full name, or email. For external collaborators without a SAMSON account, just input their email address and click Add. They’ll receive an invite and be able to join the group once they register.
Real-World Uses
Here are a few examples where groups can simplify your workflow:
- Collaborative projects: Share GROMACS simulation jobs, AlphaFold predictions, or NAMD input files with your team.
- Thesis supervision: Professors and supervisors can track progress by accessing documents and jobs directly.
- Course management: Set up a public group with links to datasets or course-specific workflows.
Plus, group ownership and role definitions reduce the risk of accidental modifications, making your collaborations more reliable.
Start Organizing Smarter
By investing a few minutes into setting up your groups, you can save hours later and avoid the messy back-and-forth typical of email-driven collaboration. Stop scrambling for the right file versions or wondering who has access to what—SAMSON Connect puts control into your hands.
To learn more about Groups and collaboration in SAMSON, visit the full documentation page at https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/collaboration/.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Get SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.