This page provides an overview of the cooperation with TU Darmstadt, the procurement process, the account lifecycle, support, and the terms of use for Overleaf via TU Darmstadt at RWTH.

• Cooperation with TU Darmstadt
• Procurement process for RWTH institutions
• Process for obtaining an Overleaf license for employees
• Account lifecycle
• Support
• TU Darmstadt terms of use

Cooperation with TU Darmstadt

In cooperation with TU Darmstadt, Overleaf can be used via the TU Darmstadt instance. In a pilot project, the use of the TU Darmstadt instance by RWTH Aachen institutions was tested. The pilot project started on November 29, 2021, and was completed successfully. Overleaf in cooperation with TU Darmstadt has been in regular operation at RWTH since February 6, 2024. A total of 500 Overleaf licenses are available for RWTH.

You can also find more information about the pilot project and regular operation in the IT Center Blog: Overleaf at RWTH Aachen University

The software is offered as an on-premises version. The following features differ from the cloud version:

• External collaborators are displayed as Anonymous when editing and commenting.
• There is no cloud storage provided by Overleaf itself. Please upload projects that you have in an Overleaf account to your account at TU Darmstadt again. Linking the accounts is not possible.
• In regular Overleaf operation, it is not possible to establish a direct connection to GitLab or GitHub. 

Procurement process for RWTH institutions

The project team is still working on expanding the service. As soon as there are concrete plans for Overleaf, we will inform you here.
If you are interested in Overleaf, please send an email to the IT-ServiceDesk with specific information about how many licenses are required and which license model is needed.

Process for obtaining an Overleaf license for employees

No licenses are currently available. If you are still interested in Overleaf, please complete the following steps:

1. Make sure that you have the active status RWTH employee. This is a requirement.
2. Check in IdM Selfservice whether your current contact email address is still stored there. You can find corresponding instructions on the page Change personal data.
3. Contact the IT-ServiceDesk.

You will be placed on the waiting list and will receive a notification via email as soon as a license is available for you. 

Please note: TU Darmstadt regularly deletes the accounts of unauthorized RWTH users without prior notice. No liability is assumed for any data stored there. Users are responsible for obtaining a license through the specified process.

Account lifecycle

People with active employee status can log in to the system at any time using their username in the format ab123456 and will immediately receive an active account. Please note that accounts will be deleted if the procurement process is not followed.

The account is considered active until one of the following cases occurs:

• Unused account: no login for more than 3 weeks and no projects
  • Accounts with no login for 3 weeks and with no projects or collaborations on third-party projects will be deleted.
  • If the person wants to continue using the service, they can log in again at any time and will receive an active account again.
     
• Inactive account: no login for more than 6 months, but projects exist
  • Accounts with no login for 6 months that either have their own projects or are used to collaborate on third-party projects are considered inactive. Users will be notified by email before the account is scheduled for deletion.
  • The first email is sent 6 weeks before deletion, another email is sent 4 weeks before the deletion deadline, and the final email is sent 3 weeks before the deletion deadline.
  • By logging in, the inactive account is automatically marked as active again and can continue to be used.
  • Deletions take place approximately 1 to 2 weeks after the deletion date has been set.
     
• Invalid account
  • Once a week, it is checked whether the contact email address of the Overleaf account exists in RWTH Aachen University's Identity Management. If this is not the case, the Overleaf account will be deleted.

Please note: 

• Deleting the ShareLaTeX account always also deletes the projects assigned to that account. Third-party projects are not affected.
• Once your Overleaf account has been deleted, you will also lose the associated license. If you want to use Overleaf via TU Darmstadt again, contact the IT-ServiceDesk to be placed on the waiting list. A new license cannot be assigned to you without going through the procurement process again. Otherwise, the account will be deleted by TU Darmstadt without prior notice.

Support

You can find more information about Overleaf on TU Darmstadt's page ShareLaTeX - Edit LaTeX documents together.
If you need further assistance, please contact our IT-ServiceDesk.

Due to response times across different locations, delays may occur when support cases are processed. Current information about incidents and maintenance is available in the status message portal.

TU Darmstadt terms of use

To use Overleaf, you need an up-to-date browser and a suitable internet connection. Please also observe the terms of use for the Overleaf/ShareLaTeX service at TU Darmstadt.