SEAS MATLAB License Information
Where can I use MATLAB?
MATLAB is available in the CETS-managed computer labs, Moore 100 (A, B & C), Towne M62, and Towne M70. MATLAB is also available in the Virtual PC lab. SEAS students are eligible for the Student MATLAB License. Other students can obtain a student license from their school or Penn Software Licensing. The license includes all of the toolboxes that are available in the SEAS license, used in CETS labs and the SEAS Student MATLAB License.
MATLAB Online is also available to users with current eligible licenses:
Can I use MATLAB Toolboxes?
Penn's MATLAB site license is fully loaded and all licenses (student and research) support installing all the available toolboxes.
Note: The Data Acquisition Toolbox is only available in a 32-bit Windows version.
Are there open source alternatives to MATLAB?
- GNU Octave is a high-level interpreted language, primarily intended for numerical computations. It provides capabilities for the numerical solution of linear and nonlinear problems, and for performing other numerical experiments. It also provides extensive graphics capabilities for data visualization and manipulation. Octave is normally used through its interactive command line interface, but it can also be used to write non-interactive programs. The Octave language is quite similar to MATLAB so that most programs are easily portable. Octave is already installed on CETS-managed Linux systems.
- SageMath is an online open source alternative to MATLAB.
What are the eligibility requirements?
Licenses are available for purchase from CETS. These are the eligibility requirements:
- Faculty and staff researchers can purchase licenses for their research group or research assistants. A Penn budget code is required to purchase licenses. We do not accept or process Purchase Orders or any other form of payment.
- SEAS has two types of MATLAB licenses available for research users to purchase: a standalone license and a networked license. Either license will work with Windows, Unix/Linux, or Mac.
- The standalone license runs the license server software directly on your machine. This type of license is recommended if you are using a laptop or other computer that might not always be connected to the network when you want to use the software. With standalone licenses it is also possible to run several copies of MATLAB with one standalone license which may suit end users with parallel jobs better than network licenses. Licenses must be purchased for each machine where you want to run MATLAB.
- The networked license is served from a license server run by CETS. This option allows you to share a number of licenses with a larger number of people or computers. MATLAB automatically checks the licenses out and back in, and our networked server keeps track of how many licenses are available. Networked licenses are also convenient because they work with any version of MATLAB without having to generate a new license file.
- With either type of license, you are essentially renting a part of the license from CETS. Therefore, you must renew this license annually. Since the cost of MATLAB is shared among all of the license users, and the price Mathworks charges us changes over time, the prices to rent this license will likely change every year. These prices cover software updates upon request, and installation help for machines with common configurations. There may be additional service charges for license changes mid-year, or consulting/troubleshooting requests.
- This license covers academic research only. MATLAB may be subject to export restrictions. Review the license before use for commercially funded research, external consulting or international travel. All MATLAB users are responsible to use this software in accordance with the license restrictions.
Please check the Mathworks web site for complete MATLAB system requirements.
How do I get a MATLAB license?
Faculty and Researchers
Faculty and researchers can request licenses here:
MATLAB Request Form (PennKey required)
Note: You must have a SEAS budget code and SEAS account to acquire MATLAB through CETS.
SEAS Students
SEAS offers free Student MATLAB licenses to all currently enrolled SEAS students with these restrictions:
- The software may only be used for academic coursework and research.
- No commercial research is permitted.
Students can view setup and configuration information here:
SEAS MATLAB Student License Information (PennKey required)
Note: Only students eligible to use the SEAS Student License will be able to view the installation instructions.