The most important activities of the Commission were related to the preparation of and participation in the Aperiodic '97 meeting in Alpe d'Huez, France, 27 - 31 August 1997. This series of conferences, held every three years under the aegis of the Commission on Aperiodic Crystals, brings together specialists from the fields of incommensurate compounds, polytypes, composite crystals and quasicrystals. The 1997 conference was characterized by the diversity and multidisciplinarity of the topics covered. In particular, new results in the fields of mathematical and theoretical studies, crystallography, diffuse scattering, growth and stability, phase transition, phonons, physical properties and interfaces were presented. Thus participants obtained a broad update on the most recent developments involving aperiodic crystals.
Some Commission members had the opportunity to meet in Tokyo, Japan, during the International Conference of Quasicrystals (ICQ6). Later, and with one exception, all the members met during the Aperiodic '97 conference. The Commission, together with the local conference organizers, selected the best poster and awarded a substantial prize to its author. The Commission members also discussed the organization of and coordination between the Aperiodic series of meetings and the ICQ conferences. The next Aperiodic meeting is scheduled for July 2000 and will take place in Nijmegen, The Netherlands; the next ICQ7 meeting will be held in Stuttgart, Germany, in September 1999.
The Commission has also undertaken some initiatives concerning the storage of structural information on aperiodic crystalline structures. The aim is not to create an independent database but rather to incorporate some additional and specific information into the existing databases. Contacts have been initiated with the authorities in charge of the organic and inorganic structural databases. This activity will be intensified further.
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