diff --git a/server.ts b/server.ts
index 131b6bb4ae..f1e8e1943f 100644
--- a/server.ts
+++ b/server.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,20 @@
+/**
+ * *** NOTE ON IMPORTING FROM ANGULAR AND NGUNIVERSAL IN THIS FILE ***
+ *
+ * If your application uses third-party dependencies, you'll need to
+ * either use Webpack or the Angular CLI's `bundleDependencies` feature
+ * in order to adequately package them for use on the server without a
+ * node_modules directory.
+ *
+ * However, due to the nature of the CLI's `bundleDependencies`, importing
+ * Angular in this file will create a different instance of Angular than
+ * the version in the compiled application code. This leads to unavoidable
+ * conflicts. Therefore, please do not explicitly import from @angular or
+ * @nguniversal in this file. You can export any needed resources
+ * from your application's main.server.ts file, as seen below with the
+ * import for `ngExpressEngine`.
+ */
+
 import 'zone.js/dist/zone-node';
 import 'reflect-metadata';
 import 'rxjs';
@@ -10,148 +27,154 @@ import * as express from 'express';
 import * as bodyParser from 'body-parser';
 import * as compression from 'compression';
 import * as cookieParser from 'cookie-parser';
+import { join } from 'path';
 
 import { enableProdMode, NgModuleFactory, Type } from '@angular/core';
 
-import { ngExpressEngine } from '@nguniversal/express-engine';
-
 import { REQUEST, RESPONSE } from '@nguniversal/express-engine/tokens';
 import { environment } from './src/environments/environment';
 
-export function startServer(bootstrap: Type<{}> | NgModuleFactory<{}>) {
-  const app = express();
+const DIST_FOLDER = join(process.cwd(), 'dist/browser');
 
-  if (environment.production) {
-    enableProdMode();
-    app.use(compression());
-  }
+// * NOTE :: leave this as require() since this file is built Dynamically from webpack
+const { ServerAppModuleNgFactory, LAZY_MODULE_MAP, ngExpressEngine, provideModuleMap } = require('./dist/server/main');
 
-  app.use(morgan('dev'));
+const app = express();
 
-  app.use(cookieParser());
-  app.use(bodyParser.json());
+if (environment.production) {
+  enableProdMode();
+  app.use(compression());
+}
 
-  app.engine('html', (_, options, callback) =>
-    ngExpressEngine({
-      bootstrap: bootstrap,
-      providers: [
-        {
-          provide: REQUEST,
-          useValue: (options as any).req,
-        },
-        {
-          provide: RESPONSE,
-          useValue: (options as any).req.res,
-        },
-      ],
-    })(_, (options as any), callback)
-  );
+app.use(morgan('dev'));
 
-  app.set('view engine', 'ejs');
-  app.set('view engine', 'html');
-  app.set('views', 'src');
+app.use(cookieParser());
+app.use(bodyParser.json());
 
-  function cacheControl(req, res, next) {
-    // instruct browser to revalidate
-    res.header('Cache-Control', environment.cache.control || 'max-age=60');
-    next();
-  }
+app.engine('html', (_, options, callback) =>
+  ngExpressEngine({
+    bootstrap: ServerAppModuleNgFactory,
+    providers: [
+      {
+        provide: REQUEST,
+        useValue: (options as any).req,
+      },
+      {
+        provide: RESPONSE,
+        useValue: (options as any).req.res,
+      },
+      provideModuleMap(LAZY_MODULE_MAP)
+    ],
+  })(_, (options as any), callback)
+);
 
-  app.use('/', cacheControl, express.static('dist', { index: false }));
+app.set('view engine', 'ejs');
+app.set('view engine', 'html');
+app.set('views', DIST_FOLDER);
+
+function cacheControl(req, res, next) {
+  // instruct browser to revalidate
+  res.header('Cache-Control', environment.cache.control || 'max-age=60');
+  next();
+}
+
+app.use('/', cacheControl, express.static('dist', { index: false }));
 
 // TODO: either remove or update mock backend
 // app.get('/data.json', serverApi);
 // app.use('/api', createMockApi());
 
-  function ngApp(req, res) {
-    const dspace = {
-      originalRequest: {
-        headers: req.headers,
-        body: req.body,
-        method: req.method,
-        params: req.params,
-        reportProgress: req.reportProgress,
-        withCredentials: req.withCredentials,
-        responseType: req.responseType,
-        urlWithParams: req.urlWithParams
-      }
-    };
-
-    function onHandleError(parentZoneDelegate, currentZone, targetZone, error) {
-      if (!res._headerSent)  {
-        console.warn('Error in SSR, serving for direct CSR. Error details : ', error);
-        res.sendFile('index.csr.html', { root: './src' });
-      }
+function ngApp(req, res) {
+  const dspace = {
+    originalRequest: {
+      headers: req.headers,
+      body: req.body,
+      method: req.method,
+      params: req.params,
+      reportProgress: req.reportProgress,
+      withCredentials: req.withCredentials,
+      responseType: req.responseType,
+      urlWithParams: req.urlWithParams
     }
+  };
 
-    if (environment.universal.preboot) {
-      Zone.current.fork({ name: 'CSR fallback', onHandleError }).run(() => {
-        res.render('../dist/index.html', {
-          req,
-          res,
-          preboot: environment.universal.preboot,
-          async: environment.universal.async,
-          time: environment.universal.time,
-          baseUrl: environment.ui.nameSpace,
-          originUrl: environment.ui.baseUrl,
-          requestUrl: req.originalUrl
-        });
-      });
-    } else {
-      console.log('Universal off, serving for direct CSR');
-      res.render('index-csr.ejs', {
-        root: './src',
-        scripts: `<script>window.dspace = ${JSON.stringify(dspace)}</script>`
-      });
+  function onHandleError(parentZoneDelegate, currentZone, targetZone, error) {
+    if (!res._headerSent) {
+      console.warn('Error in SSR, serving for direct CSR. Error details : ', error);
+      res.sendFile('index.csr.html', { root: DIST_FOLDER });
     }
   }
 
-  function serverStarted() {
-    console.log(`[${new Date().toTimeString()}] Listening at ${environment.ui.baseUrl}`);
-  }
-
-  function createHttpsServer(keys) {
-    https.createServer({
-      key: keys.serviceKey,
-      cert: keys.certificate
-    }, app).listen(environment.ui.port, environment.ui.host, () => {
-      serverStarted();
+  if (environment.universal.preboot) {
+    Zone.current.fork({ name: 'CSR fallback', onHandleError }).run(() => {
+      res.render(DIST_FOLDER, {
+        req,
+        res,
+        preboot: environment.universal.preboot,
+        async: environment.universal.async,
+        time: environment.universal.time,
+        baseUrl: environment.ui.nameSpace,
+        originUrl: environment.ui.baseUrl,
+        requestUrl: req.originalUrl
+      });
     });
-  }
-
-  if (environment.ui.ssl) {
-    let serviceKey;
-    try {
-      serviceKey = fs.readFileSync('./config/ssl/key.pem');
-    } catch (e) {
-      console.warn('Service key not found at ./config/ssl/key.pem');
-    }
-
-    let certificate;
-    try {
-      certificate = fs.readFileSync('./config/ssl/cert.pem');
-    } catch (e) {
-      console.warn('Certificate not found at ./config/ssl/key.pem');
-    }
-
-    if (serviceKey && certificate) {
-      createHttpsServer({
-        serviceKey: serviceKey,
-        certificate: certificate
-      });
-    } else {
-
-      process.env.NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED = '0';
-
-      pem.createCertificate({
-        days: 1,
-        selfSigned: true
-      }, (error, keys) => {
-        createHttpsServer(keys);
-      });
-    }
   } else {
-    app.listen(environment.ui.port, environment.ui.host, () => {
-      serverStarted();
+    console.log('Universal off, serving for direct CSR');
+    res.render('index-csr.ejs', {
+      root: DIST_FOLDER,
+      scripts: `<script>window.dspace = ${JSON.stringify(dspace)}</script>`
     });
-  }}
+  }
+}
+
+app.get('*.*', ngApp);
+
+function serverStarted() {
+  console.log(`[${new Date().toTimeString()}] Listening at ${environment.ui.baseUrl}`);
+}
+
+function createHttpsServer(keys) {
+  https.createServer({
+    key: keys.serviceKey,
+    cert: keys.certificate
+  }, app).listen(environment.ui.port, environment.ui.host, () => {
+    serverStarted();
+  });
+}
+
+if (environment.ui.ssl) {
+  let serviceKey;
+  try {
+    serviceKey = fs.readFileSync('./config/ssl/key.pem');
+  } catch (e) {
+    console.warn('Service key not found at ./config/ssl/key.pem');
+  }
+
+  let certificate;
+  try {
+    certificate = fs.readFileSync('./config/ssl/cert.pem');
+  } catch (e) {
+    console.warn('Certificate not found at ./config/ssl/key.pem');
+  }
+
+  if (serviceKey && certificate) {
+    createHttpsServer({
+      serviceKey: serviceKey,
+      certificate: certificate
+    });
+  } else {
+
+    process.env.NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED = '0';
+
+    pem.createCertificate({
+      days: 1,
+      selfSigned: true
+    }, (error, keys) => {
+      createHttpsServer(keys);
+    });
+  }
+} else {
+  app.listen(environment.ui.port, environment.ui.host, () => {
+    serverStarted();
+  });
+}