Groups & Members

What is a Group?

In METASPACE, a group typically represents a lab or research team. It is the primary unit for managing membership and sharing private data among trusted collaborators. Any registered user can create a group.

Groups are built around trust: members of a group can see each other's private datasets. This makes groups well suited for lab-internal collaboration, where the PI or group admin controls who has access.

Roles

Each group has one or more group admins (typically the PI or lab manager) and one or more members. Admins are responsible for inviting and managing members. All members, including admins, can see the private datasets associated with the group.

How to Create a Group

1. Click your username in the top-right corner and select My groups
2. Click Create group
3. Enter a group name and confirm

Once created, you become the group admin automatically.

The Group Page

Once a group is created, its page is organized into six tabs:

Tab	What it contains
Description	A free-text description of the group, editable by admins
Datasets	All datasets shared with the group
Members	Current members and their roles. Admins can invite and remove members from here
Databases	Custom metabolite databases available to the group. See Custom Databases
Subscription	The group's METASPACE Pro subscription status and management
Settings	Group name, URL slug, and other admin settings

How to Invite Members

1. Open your group page and go to the Members tab
2. Enter the email address of the person you want to invite
3. They will receive an invitation to join the group

Invitees must have a METASPACE account to accept the invitation.