diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/sitewide/atwho_res.js.erb b/app/assets/javascripts/sitewide/atwho_res.js.erb
index ca14052fa..78a4f207e 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/sitewide/atwho_res.js.erb
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/sitewide/atwho_res.js.erb
@@ -352,7 +352,23 @@ var SmartAnnotation = (function() {
           },
           beforeInsert: function(value, li) {
             return _generateInputTag(value, li);
-          }
+          },
+          matcher:function(flag, subtext, should_startWithSpace, acceptSpaceBar) {
+            var _a, _y, match, regexp, space;
+            flag = flag.replace(/[\-\[\]\/\{\}\(\)\*\+\?\.\\\^\$\|]/g, "\\$&");
+            if (should_startWithSpace) {
+              flag = '(?:^|\\s)' + flag;
+            }
+            _a = decodeURI("%C3%80");
+            _y = decodeURI("%C3%BF");
+            regexp = new RegExp(flag + "([A-Za-z" + _a + "-" + _y + "0-9_\\s\+\-\]*)$|" + flag + "([^\\x00-\\xff]*)$", 'gi');
+            match = regexp.exec(subtext);
+            if (match) {
+              return match[2] || match[1];
+            } else {
+              return null;
+            }
+          },
         },
         headerTpl: generateFilterMenu(defaultFilterType),
         limit: <%= Constants::ATWHO_SEARCH_LIMIT %>,
diff --git a/app/models/concerns/searchable_model.rb b/app/models/concerns/searchable_model.rb
index 859739037..7d38bdbc0 100644
--- a/app/models/concerns/searchable_model.rb
+++ b/app/models/concerns/searchable_model.rb
@@ -21,17 +21,22 @@ module SearchableModel
       end
 
       if options[:whole_word].to_s == 'true' ||
-         options[:whole_phrase].to_s == 'true'
+         options[:whole_phrase].to_s == 'true' ||
+         options[:at_search].to_s == 'true'
         unless attrs.empty?
           like = options[:match_case].to_s == 'true' ? '~' : '~*'
+          like = 'SIMILAR TO' if options[:at_search].to_s == 'true'
 
           if options[:whole_word].to_s == 'true'
             a_query = query.split
                            .map { |a| Regexp.escape(a) }
                            .join('|')
+          elsif options[:at_search].to_s == 'true'
+            a_query = "%#{Regexp.escape(query).downcase}%"
           else
             a_query = Regexp.escape(query)
           end
+
           # quick fix to enable searching by repositoy_row id
           id_index = { present: false }
           where_str =
@@ -40,7 +45,8 @@ module SearchableModel
                 id_index = { present: true, val: i }
                 "(#{a}) = :t#{i} OR "
               else
-                "(trim_html_tags(#{a})) #{like} :t#{i} OR "
+                col = options[:at_search].to_s == 'true' ? "lower(#{a})": a
+                "(trim_html_tags(#{col})) #{like} :t#{i} OR "
               end
             end
             ).join[0..-5]
@@ -53,7 +59,6 @@ module SearchableModel
               end
             end
           ).to_h
-
           return where(where_str, vals)
         end
       end
diff --git a/app/utilities/smart_annotation.rb b/app/utilities/smart_annotation.rb
index b5f5eaf8f..6c35577ca 100644
--- a/app/utilities/smart_annotation.rb
+++ b/app/utilities/smart_annotation.rb
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ class SmartAnnotation
   def repository_rows(repository)
     res = RepositoryRow
           .where(repository: repository)
-          .where_attributes_like('name', @query)
+          .where_attributes_like('name', @query, at_search: true)
           .limit(Constants::ATWHO_SEARCH_LIMIT)
     rep_items_list = []
     splitted_name = repository.name.gsub(/[^0-9a-z ]/i, '').split