Grant Lab Website — Research Lab Portal
Full-stack research lab website for the Seth Grant Lab at the University of Edinburgh. Built with Next.js 14 and FastAPI, featuring MDX content management, team profiles, publications database, and research tool documentation.
Lead Developer
2 months
Reader-first case study
This case study focuses on problem framing, implementation choices, technical constraints, and outcome.
Lead Developer
2 months
Research project
2025
Where parts of the system are internal or institutional, this case study focuses on engineering scope, workflow design, and technical decisions rather than trying to simulate missing public artifacts.
Project Overview
The official web presence for the Seth Grant Lab (Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh). A modern full-stack application that showcases the lab's research, team members, publications, and scientific tools.
Project Details
Technologies Used
- Next.js 14 (App Router, static generation)
- FastAPI (Python backend)
- PostgreSQL 16 (database)
- Alembic (database migrations)
- Docker & Docker Compose
- Nginx (reverse proxy)
- MDX (content management)
- Tailwind CSS
Key Features
- MDX Content System: Researchers can update content using Markdown with React components
- Team Member Profiles: Dynamic profiles with research interests, publications, and contact info
- Publications Database: Searchable publications with DOI links and citation export
- Research Tools & Pipelines: Documentation for lab's computational tools
- Health Checks: API health monitoring endpoints
- Production Deployment: Containerised with environment-based configuration
Technical Highlights
- Modern Full-Stack: Next.js for performant SSG/SSR frontend, FastAPI for type-safe Python backend
- Database Migrations: Alembic for version-controlled PostgreSQL schema management
- Institutional-Grade: Built to meet university web standards and accessibility requirements