Overview
BIM manages the licence management, distribution, and activation of software required for academic and administrative processes. Software such as OBS, EBYS, Microsoft 365, Adobe Creative Cloud, MATLAB, SPSS, AutoCAD, and SolidWorks is provided under academic campus licences or institutional agreements. Free academic options activatable with the institutional mail (@hku.edu.tr) are prioritised.
- Academic licence advantageFree / discounted campus agreements
- Microsoft 365 A1Free activation with institutional mail
- Fast activationAcademic licence within 1 business day
- Developer ecosystemJetBrains, GitHub Edu, Visual Studio Dev Essentials
Our Services
Microsoft 365 Education
Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, OneDrive — free A1 activation with institutional mail.
Adobe Creative Cloud
Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere and 20+ applications; ETLA institutional agreement.
Engineering Software
Campus licences for CAD/CAE tools such as AutoCAD, SolidWorks, ANSYS.
Statistics and Science
SPSS, R, MATLAB, Stata; for academic research and course use.
JetBrains / GitHub Edu
JetBrains All Products, GitHub Education Pack, academic developer licences.
Development Tools
Visual Studio Dev Essentials, WSL, Docker Desktop, Node/Python toolchain support.
Licence Request and Verification
Request via BIM.FR.05, licence verification and renewal; 2 business day response.
Special Licence Requests
Paid software tailored to unit requirements; purchased with Finance Office approval.
Service Level
| Scope | Target |
|---|---|
| Academic licence activation (M365/Adobe Express etc.) | 1 business day |
| Campus-licensed software distribution (MATLAB, SPSS) | 1–3 business days |
| Paid software request (Finance Office approved) | 7–15 business days |
| Licence renewal | 30 days before expiry |
| Request form (BIM.FR.05) response time | 2 business days |
| Open-source alternative suggestion for rejected requests | Within the same response |
Who Can Access
- Academic staff (academic campus licences)
- Administrative staff (institutional licences)
- Undergraduate / graduate students (academic student licences)
- Research assistants (additional MATLAB / SPSS toolbox access)
- Visiting academic (restricted for project duration)
- Community students (GitHub Education Pack etc.)
How to Apply
Fill in the Request Form
Complete BIM.FR.05 Software/Licence Request Form. Specify the software name, version, purpose of use, number of users, and requested duration.
Approval Process
After department head approval, paid software is evaluated from a budget perspective by Finance Office. Only BIM technical approval is sufficient for free academic options.
Activation and Licence Key
After approval, BIM will send you the licence key or institutional account link. You can open a ticket at destek.hku.edu.tr for installation support.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. All students and academics can use it free of charge under the HKU MATLAB Campus License. Open an account at mathworks.com with your institutional mail and select HKU in the “Associate with University” step.
The Adobe ETLA agreement is for academic and administrative staff. For students, Adobe Express can be used free of charge with institutional mail. For full Creative Cloud, Adobe’s individual student discounts (60% off) are recommended.
The reason for rejection (budget, licence type incompatibility, alternative available) is communicated along with the response. BIM recommends an open-source alternative where possible (e.g. R/JASP instead of SPSS, FreeCAD instead of AutoCAD, Python+SciPy instead of MATLAB).
Office → LibreOffice, Photoshop → GIMP, Illustrator → Inkscape, AutoCAD → FreeCAD/LibreCAD, SPSS → R/JASP, MATLAB → Python (NumPy/SciPy), SolidWorks → FreeCAD. All can be freely installed on institutional devices.
A notification e-mail is sent 30 days before the licence expires. If you do not submit a renewal request, the software is deactivated; files created remain accessible but cannot be edited. Academic campus licences are automatically renewed.
Related Procedures and Instructions
- BIM.PR.29 — Software Licence Management
- BIM.FR.05 — Software/Licence Request Form
- BIM.PR.01 — Hardware and Software Inventory Management
- BIM.PR.21 — Change Management
- KYS.POL.04 — Information Systems Usage Policy
- KYS.POL.07 — Intellectual Property and Copyright Policy
All QMS documents are published at kalite.hku.edu.tr.