From previous posts on the 1GB limitation, my understanding is that includes not only data, but packages and any external dependencies. So, it's unsurprising that you're running short and probably even toy examples could pose obstacles.
A year ago they were planning to offer options for more memory. But I haven't seen any updates. The poster @andy_kipp is still around, and maybe this will catch his eye or you can DM him. It would be great if they were also offering academic pricing, but I have no insight into that.