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Google Workspace for Education at KAUST

Google Workspace for Education provides a powerful set of cloud-based tools that support teaching, learning, research collaboration, and academic communication at KAUST. It is widely used by students, researchers, and faculty for day-to-day academic work and for collaboration with internal and external partners.

Google Workspace enables real-time collaboration, easy sharing, and seamless access across devices, making it especially well suited for academic and instructional environments.

Email and Access Model at KAUST

Important: Access to Google Workspace tools is based on your KAUST affiliation. While Google Workspace is heavily used for collaboration, email services differ by role.

Students, Researchers, and Some Faculty

  • Use Gmail for KAUST email (50GB storage).
  • Access standard Google Workspace tools: Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Calendar, and Forms.

Good for: Teaching workflows, research collaboration, and working with external academic partners.

Staff, Consultants, and Most Faculty

  • Use Outlook (Microsoft 365) for KAUST email.
  • Have 5GB storage on Google Workspace for collaboration.
  • Google Workspace is available for collaboration (not primary email).

Typically used for: Sharing documents with students or external collaborators, or using Google-native tools when needed for academic projects.

Core Collaboration and Productivity Tools

Google Docs

Create and collaborate on documents in real time.

  • Writing and drafting papers
  • Collaborative note-taking
  • Peer review and inline feedback
  • Research documentation and proposals

Google Sheets

Collaborative spreadsheets for structured work and lightweight analysis.

  • Research data collection and shared datasets
  • Survey results and tracking
  • Project coordination

Nice pairing: Forms can feed responses directly into Sheets.

Google Slides

Create and share presentations for teaching and research.

  • Lectures and teaching materials
  • Student presentations
  • Research talks and seminars
  • Conference presentations

Google Drive

Cloud storage and file sharing for Google Workspace.

  • Secure storage of files and folders
  • Easy sharing with people inside and outside KAUST
  • Access from any device using a web browser
Quick reminder: Set sharing permissions carefully (view, comment, or edit), especially when collaborating externally.

Teaching, Learning, and Data Collection

Google Forms

Quickly create forms for:

  • Surveys and questionnaires
  • Quizzes and assessments
  • Feedback forms
  • Data collection for teaching or research

Research and Academic Collaboration

Google Workspace supports many common research workflows, including:

  • Collaborative paper drafting across institutions
  • Sharing working documents with visiting researchers
  • Managing project files using shared folders
  • Commenting and suggesting edits during review cycles
Why it’s popular in academia: Easy collaboration with external partners, without version confusion or email attachments.

Communication and Scheduling

Gmail

For students, researchers, and eligible faculty, Gmail is used for KAUST email communication and supports academic correspondence, course-related communication, and research collaboration. Gmail integrates closely with Google Calendar and Google Drive.

Google Calendar

Use Google Calendar to manage:

  • Classes and lectures
  • Meetings and office hours
  • Research milestones
  • Shared team or group calendars

Plug-ins: Google Calendar can integrate with Teams, Webex, and Zoom through optional plug-ins.

Accessing Google Workspace

Mobile apps

Download the Google apps from your device’s app store:

Once signed in, you can access your files, email (if applicable), and collaboration tools from anywhere.

Getting Help and Support

If you need assistance with Google Workspace at KAUST, including access, usage questions, or troubleshooting:

  • Contact the IT Service Desk
  • Use VITA, the IT virtual assistant, for quick guidance and suppor