Additional Research Software
Washington and Lee University provides access to a variety of software applications that are useful in a research computing environment. These applications are installed in computer labs throughout campus, some are accessible virtually through our myVI environment, and some are available free-of-charge to install on personal computers. ITS is available to assist with any installation/configuration/licensing issues with these software packages. For operational usage, we recommend that you consult with our expert faculty members or utilize tutorials available through platforms like LinkedIn Learning.
Anaconda
If you are using Python for your research, Anaconda Individual Edition is a free, easy-to-install package manager, environment manager, and Python distribution with a collection of 1,500+ open source packages with free community support. Anaconda is platform-agnostic, so you can use it whether you are on Windows, macOS, or Linux. For more information, visit Anconda's website.
Matlab
MATLAB is a programming environment for algorithm development, data analysis, visualization, and numerical computation. Using MATLAB, you can solve technical computing problems faster than with traditional programming languages, such as C, C++, and Fortran.
Mathematica
Mathematica is a technical computing software program, providing tools to work with mathematics, neural networks, machine learning, image processing, geometry, data science, visualizations, and more. The mathematics department at Washington and Lee maintains a useful page which documents various Mathematica resources, including how to obtain Mathematica for your personal computer.
R and RStudio
R is a programming language used heavily in data science and statistical analysis. RStudio Desktop is an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that is designed with tools to assist in coding and visualizing R projects. It is free to download and can be installed on any Windows, Apple or Linux computer. We also have online platforms available including https://rstudioworkbench.wlu.edu which you can use to develop your R projects, and https://rstudioconnect.wlu.edu which you can use to publish and share your projects. For more information, contact Tom Marcais or visit RStudio.
SAS
SAS is a suite of analytics software which helps access, manage, analyze and report on data to aid in decision-making. Click here for more information about SAS.
SPSS
SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) is a powerful statistical software application. WLU maintains a site-license and can install this software upon request on any campus computer. Students can access SPSS in our computer labs, or virtually through myVI. Faculty needing to use SPSS on their college-owned computer off-campus can either connect to our VPN or check out a commuter license.
Stata
Stata is a statistical analysis software package providing tools for data manipulation, visualization, statistics, and automated reporting. Click here for more information on Stata.
Wolfram | Alpha Pro
Wolfram | Alpha is a computational knowledge engine. Faculty, staff and students at Washington and Lee can gain access to a Pro account at no charge. Pro users can upload their own data and images for analysis, get customized and interactive visuals for presentations, download data, get more computation time and access optimized web apps. For more information, visit the following links: