Many molecular modelers and researchers work on collaborative projects that require sharing documents, simulation jobs, and other valuable resources with team members or collaborators around the world. Managing this collaboration while preserving control over who sees or edits what can often be a challenge.
This is where Groups in SAMSON Connect come in handy. With the Groups feature, you can create public or private research groups and efficiently share content with specific people. Whether you’re working on a multi-institutional drug discovery project or organizing internal lab resources, Groups make it easier to coordinate scientific efforts.
What Is a Group on SAMSON Connect?
A Group is a space where users can collaborate by sharing access to documents, jobs, and other assets. As a group owner, you can manage membership, define roles, set visibility, and control how users can join.
Creating and Customizing Groups
You can create as many public or private groups as needed. Public groups are visible to everyone, while private groups are only visible to members and those invited.
To create or manage your groups:
- Log in to SAMSON Connect
- Open the User menu and go to Groups
As a group owner, you can edit group information similarly to how you’d edit your user profile:
Controlling Membership and Roles
You have full control over group membership:
- Add or remove members
- Assign roles (e.g., member, admin)
- Set membership expiration dates
Adding a member is as simple as clicking Add a member and searching for users by name, username, or email. Even if someone doesn’t yet have a SAMSON account, they can still be invited via email.
Why Use Groups?
Groups are particularly useful when:
- You need to share GROMACS simulation jobs with your collaborators.
- You want to share a documented protocol that’s only visible to your research team.
- You’re building a community around a specific modeling extension or methodology.
Groups help reduce email chains and file silos by centralizing collaborative content within a secure platform.
Tips for Effective Use
- Use descriptive group names that relate to projects or research themes.
- Create separate groups for different projects if needed.
- Review membership occasionally to keep things up to date.
You can even structure large research efforts with subgroups or topic-based roles to keep everyone aligned without overwhelming users with access they don’t need.
Groups make scientific collaboration more structured and more manageable. They’re flexible enough for informal lab tasks or full-scale consortia.
Learn more in the official documentation.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Get SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.