IT Projects
Web tools developed, maintained, or driven by I-MATH and the I-MATH Framework QFQ:
- Institute of Mathematics (https://math.uzh.ch/): General homepage; all data shown is maintained directly by administration, professors, and assistants.
- Intranet (https://math.uzh.ch/my): Lecture and seminar management, student homework submission, online grading, human resources, mailing lists, finances, IT management, newsletter, ...
- Proctoring (https://exam.math.uzh.ch/): Remote exam tool (webcam, screen share, chat, controlled download and upload), computer-based exams.
- Online Recruiting (https://math.uzh.ch/ort): Application (regular and student jobs) and review.
- Institute of Geography > Intranet (https://lean.geo.uzh.ch): Human resources, finances, excursion management, staff homepage management.
- Junior Euler Society (https://jes.math.uzh.ch): Homepage, event management.
- Zurich Graduate School in Mathematics (https://www.zgsm.ch): PhD application and review.
- Life Science Zurich Graduate School (https://join.lszgs.uzh.ch): PhD application and review.
- Faculty of Sciences: Student Admin (https://studentadmin.mnf.uzh.ch/): PhD tool.
- SeminarLive (https://seminarlive.mnf.uzh.ch): One-click 4K live multi-stream blackboard and screen sharing/recording.
- Faculty of Medicine > Medtool (https://medtool.uzh.ch): Master's thesis management, dissertation management, "Filling the Gap" application and review, "Beförderung" application and review.
- Graduate Campus (https://grctool.uzh.ch): Grant application and review.
- UZH Investitionskredit (https://www.ik.uzh.ch): Grant application and review.
- Universitäre Lehrförderung (https://form.ulf.uzh.ch/): Grant application and review.
- myUZHGrants (https://myuzhgrants.uzh.ch): Grant application and review.
- Animal Welfare Office / UPlan (https://uplan.tierschutz.uzh.ch/): Administration of animal welfare requests.
- Advanced Clinician Scientist Program (https://acs.medicine.uzh.ch/): Grant application and review.
- Hartmann Müller Stiftung (https://hms-tool.uzh.ch): Grant application and review.
History
Motivation: In 2001, the Institute of Mathematics realized that a dedicated webmaster, responsible for a huge number of the institute's webpages, was a constant bottleneck and a potential delay in publishing information. Data should instead be edited and published by the person responsible for that information, reducing the webmaster's workload. Furthermore, most data is related to other data, and the same data is often shown in multiple places. But presenting data is only the second step — the first step is collecting it. A web browser is a good tool both for presenting data and for collecting it via forms. An online web tool, backed by a database, seemed like a good approach in 2001, and still is.
Application development: Implementing forms and reports (i.e., presenting data) is a recurring task in application development. To reduce workload, developers should be able to focus on application workflow rather than repetitive implementation details — it should be quick and easy to build forms and retrieve data from a database.
Framework: The Institute of Mathematics developed dbq2/form2 in 2001 (discontinued in 2014), later re-implementing and improving on its concepts in the current framework, https://qfq.io (licensed under GPL). The first production version was published in 2015. Besides efficiency (forms and reports), QFQ (Quick Form Query) implements a "secure by default" strategy; protection against parameter manipulation and SQL injection is a major concern. To get a sense of how QFQ's functionality has grown: the dbq2/form2 documentation fit on two DIN A4 pages, while the QFQ documentation now runs to more than 130 pages.
Constant Demand for New Web Tools
Due to the success of I-MATH's web tools, other departments regularly ask for help implementing various workflows. Currently, 6–8 web developers at I-MATH maintain and implement applications, as well as work on QFQ itself. Feel free to contact support(at)math.uzh.ch to discuss your future UZH web tool project.