COMA - Research & Funding Community Platform

Discover what has been researched, funded, and learned — and connect with the people behind it.

Overview

COMA is a digital platform where researchers, funding bodies, and the public can explore past and ongoing research projects, see where funds went, and engage in topic-based communities to improve collaboration and funding allocation decisions.

Tech Stack

Frontend

• Next.js 15 (App Router)
• TailwindCSS + shadcn/ui
• next-intl (i18n for EN + DE)
• React 19
• TypeScript

Backend

• Next.js API routes
• Prisma ORM
• PostgreSQL
• Redis (caching)

Infrastructure

• Turborepo (monorepo)
• pnpm (package manager)
• Docker Compose (local development)

Project Structure

coma-1/
├── apps/
│   └── web/              # Next.js frontend application
├── packages/
│   ├── database/         # Prisma schema and client
│   ├── types/            # Shared TypeScript types
│   ├── config/           # Shared configurations
│   └── ui/               # Shared UI components (future)
├── docker-compose.yml    # PostgreSQL + Redis services
└── turbo.json           # Turborepo configuration

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 20.0.0
• pnpm >= 9.0.0
• Docker and Docker Compose (recommended)

Quick Start (Automated)

We provide a setup script that automates the entire setup process:

# 1. Clone the repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd coma-1

# 2. Install dependencies
pnpm install

# 3. Run the setup script
./setup.sh

The setup script will:

• Copy environment variables
• Start Docker services (PostgreSQL + Redis)
• Generate Prisma client
• Run database migrations
• Optionally seed the database with sample data

Manual Setup

If you prefer to set up manually, follow these steps:

1. Install dependencies

pnpm install

2. Set up environment variables

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env with your configuration (the defaults work for local development).

3. Start the database services

docker compose up -d

This starts PostgreSQL and Redis containers.

4. Generate Prisma client and run migrations

pnpm --filter @coma/database db:generate
pnpm --filter @coma/database db:migrate

5. Seed the database (optional)

pnpm --filter @coma/database db:seed

6. Start the development server

pnpm dev

The application will be available at:

• English: http://localhost:3000/en
• German: http://localhost:3000/de

Development Helper Script

We also provide a development helper script for common tasks:

./dev.sh start         # Start development server
./dev.sh db:studio     # Open Prisma Studio
./dev.sh db:seed       # Seed database
./dev.sh docker:up     # Start Docker services
./dev.sh               # See all available commands

Development Commands

Root commands (run from project root)

• pnpm dev - Start all apps in development mode
• pnpm build - Build all apps
• pnpm lint - Lint all apps
• pnpm format - Format code with Prettier
• pnpm type-check - Run TypeScript type checking

Database commands

• pnpm --filter @coma/database db:generate - Generate Prisma client
• pnpm --filter @coma/database db:migrate - Run database migrations
• pnpm --filter @coma/database db:push - Push schema changes without migrations
• pnpm --filter @coma/database db:seed - Seed the database
• pnpm --filter @coma/database db:studio - Open Prisma Studio

Web app commands

• pnpm --filter @coma/web dev - Start Next.js dev server
• pnpm --filter @coma/web build - Build Next.js app
• pnpm --filter @coma/web start - Start production server

Database Schema

The platform uses the following core entities:

• User - Platform users (researchers, funders, admins)
• Profile - Extended user profiles with ORCID, bio, research areas
• Funder - Funding organizations
• Project - Research projects with funding details
• Tag - Categorization tags for projects
• Space - Topic-based discussion spaces
• Post - Community posts within spaces
• Comment - Comments on posts
• Annotation - Funder/admin notes on projects

See packages/database/prisma/schema.prisma for the full schema.

Environment Variables

Key environment variables (see .env.example):

• DATABASE_URL - PostgreSQL connection string
• REDIS_URL - Redis connection string
• NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL - Public application URL
• NEXTAUTH_URL - NextAuth callback URL
• NEXTAUTH_SECRET - NextAuth encryption secret

Internationalization

The platform supports English (en) and German (de) languages using next-intl.

Translation files are located in apps/web/src/messages/.

MVP Development Phases

Phase 1 - Foundation (Weeks 1-3) ✅

• Repository setup with Turborepo
• Database schema and migrations
• Next.js app with i18n
• Basic UI framework

Phase 2 - Core Features (Weeks 4-7)

• Project Explorer with search/filter
• Researcher & Funder profiles
• Authentication (Google, ORCID)
• Community Spaces
• CSV data import

Phase 3 - Polishing (Weeks 8-12)

• Advanced search & filters
• Role-based access control
• Moderation tools
• Analytics dashboard
• Semantic search (Azure AI Search)

Contributing

This project follows the monorepo structure with Turborepo. Each package and app has its own package.json and can be developed independently.

License

[To be determined]