Other Productivity & Collaboration Tools

Here are some additional tools that may serve useful during your Graduate Research career. Feel free to explore these and find a combination that works well for you and your colleagues.

 

Google Drive

 

 

 

Google Drive Links to an external site. is a cloud-based, online storage service. You can store files, photos, documents, recordings, videos, etc. Drive can be reached from any device and offers smartphone and tablet apps, as well. It also makes collaboration with others easy, as you can share files and folders, inviting others to view, download, and edit in real-time. 

Remember, however,  that when you are no longer a student at UW you will lose access to your UW Google Drive account, meaning files and folders that you have saved will expire unless you have saved or copied them elsewhere. To prevent this from happening, make sure you save copies of important work in a personal account before graduation.

Pros: free collaboration tool widely used at UW; integrated with many various G Suite apps; Team Drive gives ownership to UW (and not a single user); FERPA Links to an external site.-compatible

Cons: not HIPAA Links to an external site.-compatible (should not be used for Protected Health Information (PHI))

 

Dropbox

 

 

Dropbox Links to an external site. is another popular cloud storage service. It allows you to upload and access documents from any device with the Dropbox app installed. 

Dropbox is convenient for sending and sharing large files like videos and photo albums. It also allows for collaboration; while working on a shared file, everyone receives the update automatically.

Pros: integrated with Microsoft products (Office 365); offline working capabilities; file backup and restoration

Cons: not fully endorsed by UW; limited storage capacity

 

Slack

 

 

 

Slack Links to an external site. is a cloud-based team collaboration tool that provides an easy way to communicate with a group. It offers an opportunity to connect with other members of your cohort or research team in real-time conversations or through an asynchronous discussion. Consider downloading the Slack mobile or desktop apps and enable notifications to stay up to date with messages. 

Pros: reduce emails; facilitate clearer conversation; easy-to-use user interface; simplicity

Cons: limited free access; not endorsed by UW; no FERPA Links to an external site. or HIPAA Links to an external site. compatibility on free accounts

 

Doodle

 

 

There are many free tools for managing scheduling,  such as Doodle Links to an external site. and When2Meet Links to an external site.. These are calendar tools for coordinating meetings and interacts with various external calendar systems (Google Calendar, Yahoo, Outlook, and Apple iCal). Doodle and When2Meet are both great resources for collaboration and group projects. Use it to create a poll and send it off to participants to let them choose the best time to meet.

Pros: entirely web-based; more participant input when scheduling

Cons: no native integration with Google and Outlook; not integrated with UW reservation systems

 

Open Science Framework

 

 

 

 

A more specialized tool is Open Science Framework (OSF), an open-source, cloud-based project management platform. It is designed to help teams collaborate in one centralized location, and it can be connected to third-party services such as Google Drive, GitHub, and Amazon Web Services. OSF is also used to share part or all of a research project or its outputs, such as preprints, open access articles, and research data.

Pros: free workspace for projects within an institution or across multiple institutions; controlled access to projects; version control of documents; UW has an institutional membership.