Kosmos by Expertise Finder
Faculty expert directories that help universities get found by journalists and partners
About Kosmos by Expertise Finder
Kosmos is cloud-hosted faculty expert directory software from Toronto-based Expertise Finder, built for American and Canadian universities, colleges, and research centers. It publishes a searchable, white-labeled directory of faculty expertise on the institution's own subdomain so journalists, industry partners, collaborators, and prospective graduate students can find the right expert quickly. Pricing is a flat $400 per month with no contract, no setup fee, and unlimited profiles.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Transparent flat $400/month price with no contract, no setup fee, and no per-profile charges
- Purpose-built for higher education, including support for cross-appointed faculty and campus/institute structures
- Vendor builds the initial profiles and configures the directory, with launch in about two weeks and no IT work required
- White-labeled on the institution's own subdomain with SEO-optimized profile pages that attract journalist search traffic
- Dedicated account manager and staff training included at no extra cost
- Full data export at any time avoids lock-in
Cons
- Built only for American and Canadian universities and colleges, so it does not fit corporate or international use cases
- Narrow scope: it is a public expertise directory, not a full research information management system with publications and grants data
- HR and other system integrations cost extra
- Very few independent user reviews exist (a single 5-star review on Capterra), which makes third-party validation hard
- Small vendor; a demo is required to get started and there is no self-serve trial
Key Features
Google-like expertise search
Solr-based search with autocomplete, acronym detection, and spelling suggestions returns relevant faculty experts instantly.
Profile manager
Create, edit, hide (for example during sabbatical or health leave), and delete unlimited faculty profiles in real time from any device, with private notes.
White-label directory on your domain
The directory runs on a subdomain such as experts.name.edu with the institution's own branding, so it reads as part of the main website.
Academic filters and cross-appointments
Users can browse by area of expertise, department, faculty, institute, campus, or name, and the data model supports cross-appointed faculty.
SEO-optimized profile pages
Profile, department, and faculty pages are built to rank in Google and Bing, sending organic traffic from reporters searching for experts.
Search analytics and reporting
Custom analytics show popular search terms and most-viewed experts so media relations teams can see what journalists are looking for.
Unlimited profiles, users, and searches
No per-profile or per-seat charges; institutions can add as many profiles and admin logins as they need.
Data export
Profile data can be downloaded at any time, including after leaving the service.
Dedicated account manager
Every customer gets an account manager who helps with setup, creates the initial profiles, and trains staff by Zoom or email.
Optional integrations
Integrations with HR or other institutional knowledge management systems are available on request for an additional fee.
Pricing
- Dedicated experts directory on your domain
- Setup and configuration included
- Unlimited profiles
- Analytics
- Customized search
- Listing of your experts on Expertise Finder
- Look and feel customization
- Staff training
- Dedicated account manager
- Support by Zoom or email
- Billed monthly, no contract, no setup fee
- Everything in Faculty Directory
- Multiple faculty directory instances
- Advanced look and feel customization
- Custom integrations with existing systems
- Billed monthly or yearly
- RFPs accepted
Best For
University media relations
News services give reporters a 24/7 searchable directory so they can find and book a faculty expert on deadline without emailing the PR office.
Industry partnerships
Research offices make faculty expertise discoverable to companies looking for collaborators, consultants, or sponsored research partners.
Graduate student recruitment
Prospective graduate students search by research area to find potential supervisors at the institution.
Internal expertise discovery
Staff and faculty find colleagues across departments for grant applications, events, and cross-faculty collaboration.
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