I'd rather have the 3 in 1 rounded boxes in the tech tree always be expanded. Found I go back and research all 3. The benefits on each are usually worth it. But you have to expand and then mouse to see the details.

The shading on the techs to indicate what is researched and what is not, kinda confusing. Some things look researched but aren't.

I agree, the tech tree shading of researched techs is somewhat unclear.  Also, my biggest frustration with the research UI is the default view of the research window, when I'd love to be able to STAY in the tech tree view.  For example, if I use the tech tree view and select a tech from that window, the next time I have the opportunity to research a new technology, I would like to automatically go back to the tech tree window.  Whatever window I exit out of should be the window I start with next time.