At UW, graduate student researchers have access to a variety of software programs to help them with their various projects over graduate school. This comes through UWare, a centralized repository of software packages hosted by the UW IT department. Although these programs are mostly proprietary software packages, the kind folks over at UW-IT purchased licenses that make them all FREE for UW students and staff!
You can log into UWare with your UW ID, and through that, access the repository of softwares. The table on the UWare landing page lists where you can download and/or find the software, as well as what disciplines and departments would benefit from it.
Useful UWare Packages
Qualtrics, is an online data collection tool, used to administer surveys and user research. The UWare package grants access to the premium Qualtrics Core features, allowing users to create and administer unlimited surveys and web forms, alongside numerous tools to analyze and report on the collected data.
ArcGIS is a widely used software application for GIS (geographic information systems), a practice which encompasses the manipulation, management, and visualization of geospatial data. Fields such as geography, environmental science, urban planning, and political science use GIS methods for a variety of geospatial inquiries and studies. Free access to ArcGIS, for the UW community, comes from the Department of Geography. Follow their installation guide here!
Tableau is a proprietary data visualization software package focused on business information and analytics. Its data engine can query spreadsheets and relational databases alike to create interactive visualizations of business and research data without any programming requirement. Thanks to license agreements between Tableau and UW-IT, as its licenses are known for being expensive, UW students, faculty, and staff you log in with your UW account, you can use it for free!
Overleaf is a cloud-based document design service, for the writing, editing, and design of research papers using LaTeX. It stands out among other LaTeX editors through its focus on real-time collaboration between researchers and peers on documents, like on Google Docs or Office 365. The UW College of Arts and Sciences, Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, Information School, and College of Engineering partnered to purchase an Overleaf package where students, faculty, and staff can all sign in with their NetID for free access.
SPSS, short for Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, is a statistical software suite designed to give researchers a comprehensive place for the management, analysis, documentation, and visualization of their data. This package is widely used in social science research, often taught across social science departments, and highly recommended by UW’s Center for Statistics and Social Sciences (CS&SS). Unlike Tableau and ArcGIS, students and researchers have to use a specific authorization code when they download the SPSS installer. Follow the installation guide here!
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