Initial: add README, CONTRIBUTING, LICENSE, and research template

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# Contributing
+
+## Workflow
+
+1. Create a branch for your work: `git checkout -b fix/issue-N-name` or `git checkout -b docs/topic-name`
+2. Make changes and commit with clear messages
+3. Open a Pull Request for review
+4. Do not merge directly to `master` for reviewable changes
+5. After approval, squash and merge
+
+## Guidelines
+
+- Use clear, descriptive commit messages
+- Keep PRs focused and reasonably sized
+- Document any non-obvious decisions
+- Test changes before submitting
+
+## Branches
+
+- `master` — stable, reviewed content only
+- `fix/*` — bug fixes
+- `docs/*` — documentation updates
+- `research/*` — new research notes