MathWorks Software – MATLAB for Students

Notice Changes to Distribution of MATLAB for July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025

There is a significant change to the licensing of MATLAB software. The Licensed Software Office (LSO) will no longer be able to distribute MATLAB licenses when the current license expires on June 30, 2023. Members of the University Community will need to obtain licenses directly from MathWorks.

This year MathWorks is implementing a requirement that UofT integrate our institutional single sign-on directly with MATLAB licensing. MathWorks states the change is designed to allow unrestricted use of the software for all members of the University community, regardless of whether they are paying towards the license. This new model limits our ability to operate on a cost-recovery basis.

Since the cost of the site license closely matches individual license costs from the vendor, any decrease in license revenue may enable individuals to obtain it cheaper directly from MathWorks. MathWorks is fully aware of this issue, they understand that we will not proceed with the site license, and they remain committed to this course of action.

When the license expires at the end of June, Faculty, Staff, and Students will need to purchase the product directly from MathWorks. Please note that MATLAB and toolboxes are priced separately, and the license distributed by the LSO includes all toolboxes. For pricing information, please contact Cory Winter at cwinter@mathworks.com / (248) 675-2610 or visit https://www.mathworks.com/pricing-licensing.html?prodcode=ML&intendeduse=edu.

We understand that this change will cause inconvenience, and we appreciate your understanding during this transition.


Product Information

  • License Period: July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024. The product expires on June 30.
  • Cost: Free
  • Additional Toolboxes: As of the 2020 to 2021 license period, all MATLAB toolboxes are included as part of the TAH package distributed by the Licensed Software Office.
  • Restrictions: This license can only be installed by U of T students for personal academic use. This license cannot be used for institutional research or commercial purposes. The software can be installed on a single workstation.
  • License Type: Subscription
  • Supported Operating Systems: Windows, UNIX/Linux, Mac.
  • Installation Media: Installation media is made available via download from the MathWorks portal website. A MathWorks account will be created by LSO staff for you based on the email address used when purchasing the product.

Access

To access the software please visit the MathWorks Student TAH Portal and click Sign in to get started under Get MATLAB and Simulink.


Description

MATLAB is a high-level technical computing language and interactive environment for algorithm development, data visualization, data analysis, and numeric computation. Using the MATLAB product, you can solve technical computing problems faster than with traditional programming languages, such as C, C++, and Fortran.

You can use MATLAB in a wide range of applications, including signal and image processing, communications, control design, test and measurement, financial modeling and analysis, and computational biology. Add-on toolboxes (collections of special-purpose MATLAB functions, available separately) extend the MATLAB environment to solve particular classes of problems in these application areas.


MATLAB TAH Information

License Distributions:

MATLAB is distributed by the LSO as a non-perpetual yearly subscription license from July 1 to June 30. This license can only be used by U of T students for personal academic use. This license cannot be installed on U of T owned/leased workstations and cannot be used for institutional research or commercial purposes. The software can be installed on a single workstation.


Vendor and Support

  • Vendor: MathWorks
  • Support: The MathWorks has extensive online product documentation and help, including a large knowledge base of previously solved problems. A strong user community provides file exchange, newsgroups, link exchanges, and blogs. Also, support questions can be sent via email to support@mathworks.com . You will need your license number to get support.

Training

MATLAB Onramp is free, self-paced training to get started with MATLAB in less than 2 hours. It provides a brief introduction to the MATLAB language and gives a hands-on MATLAB experience using a web-based version of MATLAB.


Tutorial and Documentation

Tutorial: The MathWorks offer a free online tutorial that walks you through the basics of MATLAB. You can take the entire tutorial, or select an individual chapter specific to your needs. No prior MATLAB knowledge is required. This self-paced tutorial runs for approximately 90 minutes. Topics include:

  • Using MATLAB as a graphical calculator
  • Importing and extracting data
  • Visualizing data
  • Conducting computational analysis
  • Fitting data to a curve
  • Writing MATLAB programs
  • Publishing MATLAB programs

Registration for the tutorial is free. Sign up online.

Documentation: MathWorks has all their documentation (including product documentation, index of MATLAB examples, function list, tech notes, and "how-to" guides on their website. A good starting place is their support page.


MATLAB Mobile

Please see the MATLAB Mobile for information on how to download the app and associate it with your MathWorks account to gain access to all of the features.


Reactivation of MATLAB

The University of Toronto has renewed our campus-wide license to MATLAB & Simulink. For continued access to MATLAB, you will need to update the license file. You may choose one of these options to update your license file:

To update the License File in MATLAB (internet connection required):
Go to Help > Licensing > Update Current Licenses

To update the License File in the License Center:

  1. Access the MathWorks License Center here: https://www.mathworks.com/licensecenter/ (log-in required)
  2. Select TAH license 676468
  3. Click on the "Activation and Installation" tab below
  4. Click on the Activation Label for the activation you wish to validate
  5. Click on the "Get License File" button. Select to either email or download the license file.
  6. Once downloaded, open MATLAB and go to Help > Licensing > Activate Software
  7. Select to Activate without using the internet
  8. Browse to a copy of the newest license file saved. MATLAB should now run without displaying the "due to expire" message.


For issues related to your MATLAB installation, contact MathWorks Support.