How to Input Your Community of Science Expertise Profile

*Please print out this guide to use as a step-by-step tutorial

• You must use a browser that supports forms and accepts cookies and JavaScript in order to use the system fully.

• Go to the Community of Science homepage: http://www.cos.com.

• Click on the “New User?” link on the left-hand side, below the COS logo. 

• Click the “Join” button in the center of the page.

• Enter all the required information on each page. Required fields are marked with a red asterisk (*). These fields must be provided in order to complete the whole registration process. Please note: You should only use your Tufts (or affiliate) email address and telephone number.

• While the other information is not required to set-up a profile, a profile is only considered “published” (which means that it will be picked up by a search) if it has a name, phone number, email address, institution and a statement about your expertise/research interests.

• Choose a username and a password on the last page of the registration process. 

• Right below “Re-type Your Password,” there’s a checkbox for saving your username and password.  Only check it if you want the computer to remember your username and password, otherwise, leave it unchecked.

• There is another checkbox below the username and password. This checkbox is selected by default, leave it checked if you want to receive periodic e-mail notifications regarding new products and enhancements, if not, uncheck it to deny the option of receiving email notifications.

• The “COS Privacy and Data Protection Policy” is available at the link right above the “I Agree, Complete my Registration” button.

• Click on the “I Agree, Complete my Registration” button to complete the registration process. Please note: If there is any problem with the information you entered, there will be an error message(s) in red at the top of the page prompting you to correct the mistake. For example, if the username you have selected is already in use, an error message will prompt you to choose another username. Also, if your password does not match, it will prompt you to enter it again.

• After your registration is submitted, you can choose to be taken to your personalized COS Workbench (page from which you can access most other COS services) or to add more details to your Expertise profile. To continue filling out your profile or to update it at a later time from the Workbench, select the “your profile” link located at the bottom of the page. You will need to select the sections you would like to update and click on the “[edit]” link in order to edit your profile information. You must always remember to click the “Update” button to save your changes. Please note: You can include this profile URL (http://myprofile.cos.com/COSUsername) in your email signature block. The link is constant and anyone on the Internet (not just COS subscribers) may access it by clicking on the link and view your COS profile. This will allow others to view your research interests, possibly leading to potential collaborations on projects.

Updates made to your profile will be visible immediately through your COS Workbench, however, it takes approximately a week for a new or significantly modified profile to appear in the searchable expertise database. Therefore, until your profile is posted in the expertise database, you will not be able to receive funding alerts, or be picked up by any other searches.

If you have any further questions regarding your profile or how to use COS services, you can contact our office at (617) 636-6550. For any technical problems, contact the COS Help Desk at (410) 563-2595 ext. 302 or by submitting a request to COS by clicking on the “COS Help Desk” link located under “Help” on the bottom of the left-hand side of COS Workbench.