Research Workspace

Research Workspace is the Pro, model-scoped interface for five discrete research workflows. It is a place to preserve and govern work already present in a Grid model. It is not a program recommender, an academic-fit analysis, or a “Where Should I Go” destination surface.

In Grid, “academic research” means reproducible computational evidence, purpose-bound governance, disciplinary interchange, specialist-validation preparation, and citable release over exact model artifacts. It does not mean that Grid makes institutional, admissions, publication, or scientific-validity decisions on a researcher's behalf.

Open an existing model, then choose Research in the top bar, Research Workspace in the View menu, or Open Research Workspace in the command palette. Existing product surfaces can also open the same workspace with bounded context:

• Experiments: Seal research evidence opens Evidence & Reproducibility with the published experiment lineage and matching output labels.
• Molecule: Validate with GROMACS opens Specialist Validation. A selected digest-bound linked portable or periodic parameterized system that retained exact GROMACS .gro and preprocessed .top sources is offered for verified promotion; every other molecular selection opens contextual guidance only.
• Document: Cite & release opens Scholarly Release with the document title.

All three actions lead into the same model-scoped workspace. They do not create parallel research state or a second product.

The five workflows

1. Evidence & Reproducibility

The workspace reads a current capture fence: model revision, exact execution- plan SHA-256, and the selectable model outputs. Choose one or more outputs, confirm classifications and optional parent evidence, then prepare an immutable capture subject.

To publish the final evidence snapshot, first create a policy in Research Use Policies whose exact scope includes that capture-subject artifact. Return to Evidence, provide the policy ID, purpose, and recipient class, and publish. The verification action reopens the immutable graph and reports which components can be verified. V1 is current-revision capture; it does not claim effectful reexecution or historical AS_OF publication.

2. Research Use Policies

Publish an immutable policy with an exact logical ID, purpose, recipients, allowed operations, artifact scope, data classes, validity and retention, and at least one signed authority release. Signed consent releases are optional. Loading a policy reads its current immutable policy/status pair. A successor or withdrawal uses that pair as a compare-and-swap fence, so concurrent changes fail rather than silently overwriting one another. Loading also replaces the editable form with the exact current purpose, recipients, operations, scope, classes, authority/consent references, validity, and retention values; it does not construct a successor from stale defaults.

A policy records authorization facts for an admitted operation. It does not authenticate the current caller, grant a machine executor, or turn arbitrary metadata into legal consent.

3. Bibliography & Standards

Import bounded CSL-JSON, BibTeX, or RIS. Grid retains the exact classified source and publishes a normalized bibliography artifact. Export requires the exact bibliography artifact, policy, purpose, and recipient class.

The adapter intentionally declares its limits: CSL-JSON and BibTeX have the qualified semantic round-trip vectors documented in the API reference; RIS round-trip and BibTeX/RIS unknown-field preservation are not claimed.

4. Specialist Validation

Upload exact .gro, .top, and .mdp files to publish one canonical, self-contained GROMACS input candidate. Grid stores the three unchanged byte sequences with per-file identities and a domain-framed aggregate digest. An execution-request candidate separately pins tool, environment, inputs, outputs, seeds, and timeout. A successful input publication supplies its host-authenticated content digest and is inserted into that request form.

The Validate with GROMACS contextual action has a second, fail-closed path for an eligible life-science artifact. Grid accepts only a digest-matched linked portable_parameterized_system or periodic_parameterized_system whose source metadata is exactly gromacs_gro_preprocessed_top, meaning it retained an exact .gro and preprocessed .top. Supply the exact .mdp in the workspace; Grid reopens the source, verifies its digest and retained files, and then publishes the same canonical grid.molecular.gromacs-input.v1 candidate. An ordinary molecule, structure, trajectory, managed artifact, or mismatched digest is guidance only and cannot be promoted.

These actions do not run GROMACS. Execution requires a verified Domain Pack, the exact separately configured trusted worker, and the governed workflow/job path. Grid has no built-in HPC scheduler, shell endpoint, arbitrary-code runner, or silent local fallback.

5. Scholarly Release

Compose an immutable scholarly object and deterministic RO-Crate candidate from the exact policy, bibliography, evidence, typed execution receipts, typed V&V reports, and supporting artifacts. Grid supplies host time and actor attribution. Publish an active, corrected, superseded, or retracted release-status candidate. Corrected and superseded statuses name their successor release, while every transition after the first carries the current status artifact as a compare-and-swap fence. Activate a candidate only through a verified signed governed release for the exact executable-research/release-disposition workflow.

Verification reopens the signed release and package closure. Governed export supports RO-Crate, PROV-O, DataCite JSON, and Citation File Format. DataCite and identifier fields are metadata: Grid does not mint a DOI, deposit into a repository, or contact an external registry.

Recent artifacts and data egress

The workspace shows at most 24 recent immutable artifact records. This rail fetches metadata only and never preloads artifact contents. Selecting a record routes known schemas into the active form's typed policy, bibliography, evidence, execution-receipt, V&V-report, or scholarly-object field and copies the ID when browser permissions allow. Successful publications refresh this bounded list without remounting the five workflow panels.

Research-governed raw bytes are not available through the generic artifact content route in a Pro deployment. Bytes leave only through a supported, purpose-specific export operation such as bibliography or scholarly export, which reopens exact identities and evaluates the bound policy. Artifacts that have no such export operation are intentionally unavailable as raw downloads.

Failure, retry, and recovery

• Switching tabs, changing model, closing the workspace, or choosing Cancel request aborts the in-flight browser request.
• A 409 means a revision, policy head, or status fence changed. Refresh the capture context or load the current policy/status before making a new decision; do not replay the old mutation blindly.
• A 429 or 503 may include a retry interval. Re-read current state before retrying an operation whose durable outcome was uncertain.
• Published artifacts are immutable. Corrections create successors, dispositions, or new snapshots rather than rewriting prior evidence.
• Interrupted multi-artifact publication remains protected by a durable transaction and is reconciled through the artifact store; the browser is not the source of commit truth.

Availability

Research Workspace is included only in Pro products. Lite packages contain neither the workspace nor its five workflow labels, routes, research services, or specialist execution contracts. A Pro deployment plan paired with Lite bytes fails closed at startup.

For formula-authored exact mathematics that can feed research evidence, see Symbolic mathematics. Symbolic mathematics and Research Workspace share model/artifact identity and provenance, but one does not grant the other native capability, policy, execution, or publication authority.