Supporting Academic Innovation

Arm empowers research by providing access to a range of commercially-proven IP, tools, and other resources at no cost for academia. We’re here to enable you to do your best work on your own terms. Explore the options in the table below to find the one that best suits your project and apply straight away.

If you’d prefer to get in touch to discuss your needs, we’d love to hear what you are seeking to achieve. As well as IP and tools, Arm also provides teaching and learning resources through Arm Education and works jointly with selected academics and institutions on Research Collaborations.

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Academic Developer Platforms

Arm technology scales from the smallest bare-metal systems to multicore cloud environments. Whether you're a university educator, researcher, or developer, we're here to support your work.

We have curated resources designed to help accelerate your projects around each compute subsystem, including SoC design, bring-up, and application software development.

See our new academic developer platforms to choose your area of interest and see other related resources.

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Choose the Package That Is Best for You

We have developed a set of standard options to suit different use cases. It’s simple to apply, and our team is on hand to help you throughout the process.


Arm CPU Evaluation
Instant access to Cortex-M0 and Cortex-M3.
Arm Academic Quickstart
Full RTL for Cortex-M0, M3 and Cortex-A5 and their systems.
Arm Academic Access
Our widest range of IP and tools for academic research.

Who Is It For?
Who Is It For? Anyone with a research project who would like instant access to IP for evaluation purposes. 
Academics and researchers at universities who only need access to this specific IP for their own research group. 
Universities at the institutional level who may have multiple groups with different IP needs and/or more complex projects.   

How Does It Work?
How Does It Work? Download the IP after creating an Arm Account and click through a user agreement. 
 
Access is instant after clicking the user agreement. 
 
You get industry-standard Cortex-M IP (obfuscated, fixed configuration synthesizable RTL). 
 
You can then design and/or prototype a custom SoC.
Please complete the form via the ‘Apply Now’ link to access Arm Academic Quickstart.
 
This program will include access to the full RTL for Cortex-M and Cortex-A IP, which you will be able to use to undertake FPGA development and/or small-scale SoC manufacturing.
 
Many people may find that Arm CPU Evaluation is sufficient for their research needs.
Submit a simple access request form. Our team will contact you to guide you through the sign-up process.
 
The standardized access agreement is university-friendly. Once your legal department has completed the DocuSign process, access can be extended across the university as needed.
 
Access timelines will vary according to your university processes, but is typically a few weeks to a couple of months. 
 
Depending on needs, you can get access to a wide range of IP, including Physical IP if required, and undertake FPGA development and/or small-scale SoC manufacturing. 
 
You can also collaborate with any other institution that is part of the program.

How Do I Access?
How Do I Access? Apply Now Apply Now Apply Now

Teach, Learn and Collaborate with Arm

As well as IP, tools, and support, we provide teaching and learning resources through Arm Education, and work closely with academic and industry partners on Research Collaborations.

Additional Resources

Research Enablement Kits help researchers get the most out of widely available Arm technologies. These technologies include Arm-based modeling using the gem5 simulator, SoC design and prototyping, and a set of high-quality SC libraries for the ASAP7 predictive process.

Achieve Your Research Goals

If your project requires a more specialised set of IP, including physical IP, tools, or support, get in touch with our dedicated team who will be happy to discuss the options.

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