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Software for students
Special conditions - Software for students
The following links refer to different offers of hardware and software manufacturers as well as to the Software Portal of Lower Saxony for Research and Education (“Software-Portal Niedersachsen für Forschung und Lehre”). It's worth taking a look…
Campus license Citavi and Citavi Web
Termination of the Citavi campus license
The Citavi campus license for the University of Göttingen expires in one year on 30 November 2026. As an alternative, we recommend Zotero, a free open-source reference management program. We have compiled answers to the most important questions and practical tips for you here.
If you have any further questions or problems, please contact the Reference Management Working Group at literaturverwaltung@sub.uni-goettingen.de (e-mail).
Citavi Desktop is a literature management program for Microsoft Windows. During the current license period, Citavi Web is also available to members of the University of Göttingen. This means that the literature management program can be used independently of the operating system and is also suitable for anyone working with macOS or Linux. Students and members of the University of Göttingen can use Citavi free of charge. The SUB provides all information about Citavi on this website: https://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/en/learning-teaching/academic-work-tools-and-methods/reference-management/citavi/
Campus License Microsoft Office 365 Education
The Georg August University of Göttingen has a campus agreement for Microsoft products. Students can obtain Microsoft 365 with Office as part of the campus agreement via the GWDG customer portal:
- Login at the GWDG customer portal: www.gwdg.de
- In the account management (My Account) under External Services click on Edit
- Click Activate Microsoft 365 / Office
- Read data protection information + terms of use and agree to the displayed dialog if you agree
- After a maximum of 30 minutes you will receive a confirmation email with payment information as soon as the activation has taken place.
- The license can then be used even if you have not yet paid!
You then have 21 days to transfer the fee of € 9.99.
The software can be used both locally (local installation) and in the Microsoft Cloud. Once you have completed your studies, you may no longer use the license. The software is available for download for both Windows and macOS. The license is activated using your student email address and password, as well as the second factor of your student account (please note: registration does NOT work with FIDO2 passkey (TouchID, etc.)! Please use eduMFA as the second factor).
More information on activation and install process: https://docs.gwdg.de/doku.php?id=en:services:email_collaboration:office365#download_license_activation
OneNote
Manually back up your OneNote notebooks: https://pad.gwdg.de/s/duqEM7Kf7#
Mobile Apps
Some apps that do not comply with current security standards are blocked by GWDG server policies. For example, the mobile Android and iOS email app Microsoft Outlook is also blocked. The access of mobile devices to the Exchange Server via ActiveSync using such apps is then not allowed. In such a case you will receive an error message, e.g. Your phone cannot be synchronized with the server via Exchange ActiveSync due to an access policy defined on the server.
Cloud storage with student account
The GWDG also offers students 50 GB of free cloud storage via owncloud.gwdg.de. Registration at https://owncloud.gwdg.de is easy with your student email address and the corresponding password. Clients for Mac and Windows can be downloaded.
Advantage: 50 GB of free cloud storage, and the data is not stored overseas but securely on the servers of the University of Göttingen's data center. One restriction: only the web client can be used on studIT desktops, as a full Owncloud folder would cause problems with roaming profiles (overfilled home directories). This is not (yet) possible at present. This is because the GWDG cloud for students comprises 50 GB, but the student home directory only 10 GB. It could therefore happen that data in the cloud storage fills up the home directory, making it impossible to log in to the computer. We are working with the GWDG to find a solution.
Apple on Campus
Apple on Campus via GWDG has been discontinued. However, Apple offers special educational pricing for private purchases. When shopping at the Apple Edu Store, educational discounts are available on selected Apple products.
The Apple Store Education can be accessed via the Apple website, by phone at 0800 2000 136, or at a local Apple Store.
Microsoft Products: MSDN Academic Alliance / Dreamspark
Students of economic sciences, computer science as well as physics and biology are allowed to obtain Microsoft products (operation systems, Office) free of charge under certain circumstances within the framework of “MSDN Academic Alliance”.
PV Wave
All members of Göttingen University as well as the Max-Planck-Institutes for Dynamics and Self-Organization and Solar System Research are able to download the new version 9.5 of PV-WAVE for free within the framework of the campus license here.
IMPORTANT: You can also download the license file for the new licensing period at the Internet address above!
STATA IC, SPSS, PSPP, EViews, MaxQDA
There are special statistics programs for students of the Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics. However, these can only be accessed via remote desktop. All important information as well as instructions can be found here: https://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/623820.html
SAS
SAS is a complete solution package for statistical data analysis, which includes one- or multi-dimensional descriptive methods, different methods of testing and estimating as well as multivariate methods like variance analysis, factor analysis, cluster analysis, discriminant analysis and principal component analysis. Medical students are able to get a free license. Here you can find an instruction of how to install SAS.
SPSS
Unfortunately, SPSS can not be obtained for free through a campus license. However, Studyhouse is offering a SPSS StudyPack: https://www.studyhouse.de/cgi-bin/product/spss-statistics-base-studypack-ibm-spss4student-statistik-linux-P10012713/ml=EN
Students of the Faculties of Economic and Social Sciences and psychology students can access SPSS through a terminal server by the Computing Center of the Faculties of Economic and Social Scienes and the Georg-Elias-Müller-Institute of Psychology. Instructions for economic and social sciences can be found here. Instructions in German for psychology are here (Windows) and here (MacOS).
Campus license STATISTICA (expired)
From January 2014 to December 2025, the University of Göttingen offered a campus license for STATISTICA.
The campus license for STATISTICA expired on 31 December 2025 and may no longer be used since 1 January 2026. Please uninstall STATISTICA to avoid unintentional license violations.
Further information is available on the GWDG support pages: https://docs.gwdg.de/doku.php?id=en:services:application_services:statistics_programs:statistica
Campus license MindManager
Since 1st June 2008 Göttingen University takes part in a rental model of the company Mindjet GmbH for public universities and colleges. Because of this the popular mind mapping software MindManager is available in all departments for all employees as well as for all students of Göttingen University.
You can download the software MindManager for both Windows and Apple Mac OS in English, German and French as a test version from this page: https://www.mindjet.com/mindmanager/
If you want to use the software longer than for a free testing phase, you will need an unlock key. Students have to request their unlock keys on the following URL: http://www.schulnachweis.de/schueler-studenten
The one-time provision fee charged by schulnachweis.de is €4.99. A PayPal account is required for payment.
Current offer (as of 15 May 2017): The latest version of Mindjet is currently available in a bundle with Avira Antivirus Pro for a provision price of €9.98.
Thiemeonline and AMBOSS
Medical students have the opportunity to use the learning platforms AMBOSS, via medici, and Meditricks. More detailed information about AMBOSS can be found on the University Medical Center website: Amboss. AMBOSS and the other providers provide information on activating the campus license on their respective homepages. Initial activation takes place either from eduroam or from home via VPN. Help with setting up a VPN client can be found on our wiki pages.
juris, beck-online, beck-eLibrary - access for students of law
Students of the Faculty of Law have access to several online databases. Students can use textbooks, judgments, articles and other materials via the University of Göttingen license. All access only works via the university network, Eduroam on campus or via eduVPN!
Access to Juris (Search for “juris” here and then click on “To the database”.
Access to beck-online (Here you have to register individually, otherwise simply navigate to the start page).
Access to the beck-eLibrary (Here click on “Login”, then select “Login via Shibboleth”, select “Universität Göttingen” as institution and then log in with the normal student login (e-campus password and email).
Smartboard Software
Since Winter 2010 the lecture halls in the ZHG building and some seminar rooms at the central and north campus are equipped with interactive displays from the company SMART Technologies.
The license is available for all students and teaching staff members of Göttingen University. The E-Learning-Service can give introductions to the uses of the hard- and software in small groups on appointment. More information and download: http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/368313.html (German)
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