[Feature/Workflow]: Structured Community Collaboration Proposals & Research Matching Pipeline

[neural-loop]

📌 Context & Objectives

As Open Neuromorphic grows, we regularly receive proposals from independent researchers, students, and external contributors seeking research partners, algorithm testing, compute resources, or feedback on novel concepts.

This issue was created from feedback provided by Michael Furlong.

Currently, these requests arrive ad-hoc across leadership emails, direct messages, and general chat channels. Without a structured intake format or designated community space, proposals often stall, place disproportionate triage strain on individual maintainers, or arrive at a length/format that makes constructive evaluation difficult.

Objective:
To establish a lightweight, transparent, and educational intake pipeline that:

1. Gives contributors an accessible, standardized way to pitch ideas and solicit collaborators.
2. Imposes structural constraints (concise scope, clear problem definition) that ensure submissions are legible, testable, and actionable.
3. Provides a dedicated forum within the community for peer discussion, collaborator matching, and mentoring toward standard scientific formats (such as ONR 2.0 tracks).

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🧩 Proposed Architecture & Components

1. Standardized Intake Schema (Heilmeier Catechism Adaptation)

To prevent cognitive overload and encourage clarity, proposal requests will be constrained to a strict 1-page / ~500-word limit accompanied by at most one diagram or plot.

The structure adapts DARPA’s Heilmeier Catechism to ensure researchers articulate their core value proposition:

• The Goal: What are you trying to do? State your objective clearly without jargon.
• Current State of the Art: How is this problem solved today? What are the limitations of existing methods?
• Novelty / Hypothesis: What is new in your approach, and why do you believe it will succeed?
• Impact: If successful, what difference will it make? Who in the neuromorphic/AI community will benefit?
• The Specific Ask (Collaboration Type): Exactly what support are you seeking?
  • Examples: Conceptual peer feedback, mathematical/code verification, simulation benchmarking, hardware access, or co-authoring.
• Reproducibility / Artifact Status: Is there an executable open-source codebase, a Colab notebook, or a mathematical proof ready for inspection?

2. GitHub Issue Form (.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/collaboration-proposal.yml)

Model a structured GitHub Issue Form (similar to our event and infrastructure request templates):

• Enforces required form fields matching the questions above.
• Automatically applies the domain:research and collaboration-proposal labels.
• Serves as an open, citable, and searchable record where community members can comment, ask clarifying questions, or volunteer to collaborate.

3. Community Forum Channel (#research-collaborations)

• Create a dedicated forum or text channel on Discord (e.g., #research-collaborations or #project-matchmaking).
• Post guidelines pinned to the channel requiring all inbound collaboration requests to use the 1-page summary format or link to an approved GitHub proposal ticket.
• Provide a space for async discussions and matching prospective collaborators before formalizing work into dedicated repository spaces or study groups.

4. Educational Scaffolding & Scientific Mentorship

• Guidance & Rubrics: Publish a brief submitter guide outlining what makes a strong proposal (citing prior literature, defining clear metrics, providing runnable code).
• Onboarding into ONR 2.0: Use this pipeline as a feeder mechanism. Successful collaborations formed in this channel can transition into official ONR 2.0 working groups, open-lab notebooks (Process as Provenance), or pre-print submissions for community peer review.
• Exploratory "Office Hours": Explore the feasibility of periodic, volunteer-led "community office hours" where senior researchers/mentors provide lightweight 15-minute feedback sessions on promising project proposals.

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🧾 Action Items & Deliverables

• Draft Proposal Template: Create .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/collaboration-proposal.yml implementing the Heilmeier-inspired schema and length bounds.
• Establish Discord Space: Set up #research-collaborations channel with pinned posting guidelines and links to the GitHub form.
• Documentation: Add a brief "How to Propose a Collaboration" section in docs/initiatives/ or the ONM Contributor Portal.
• Trial Run: Route the next inbound collaboration requests through the new template and gather feedback on reviewer readability.