2018 Jana Modulation Workshop

Volume 27, Number 2, 2019

ISSN 1067-0696

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15 May 2019
2018 Jana Modulation Workshop
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2018 Jana Modulation Workshop

Nearly 30 crystallographers from academia, industry and government labs recently gathered for the 2018 Jana Modulation Workshop organized and hosted by Milan Gembicky and Curtis Moore of the University of California, San Diego, USA. The workshop was led by Václav Petříček and Michal Dušek of the Czech Academy of Sciences, two of the co-authors of the Jana2006 software. The participants came from a wide variety of backgrounds including chemistry, geology and materials science, and their experience level ranged from graduate students to emeriti faculty. More than half a dozen US states, two Canadian provinces and three other foreign countries were represented.

Workshop participants were introduced to the Jana2006 software and to the concept of modulation through a combination of lectures and step-by-step activities that they worked through on their own computers individually or in pairs. To familiarize themselves with Jana2006, the attendees first learned how to solve and refine non-modulated structures from both single-crystal and powder data. As they gained confidence and experience, more advanced concepts were introduced to the exercises. By the end of the four-day workshop, which ran from 10 to 13 December 2018, participants were modeling twins and various modulation functions, and visualizing the results in Diamond and Vesta. Everyone was sent back to their universities or companies with several more datasets to continue practicing.

In order to make sure that participants had all the necessary tools to generate and process their own datasets in the future, several other software packages were also demonstrated and distributed during the workshop. Jim Britten of McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada, gave a lecture on Max3D, a powerful program for visualizing reciprocal space in three dimensions. Because Jana2006 can handle data from virtually any diffractometer, Bruce Noll of Bruker AXS and Eric Reinheimer of Rigaku Americas each gave lectures to demonstrate best practices for collecting and processing crystallographic data using the APEX3 and CrysAlis^PRO software suites, respectively. Dr Gembicky reinforced the message of their lectures - the importance of proper collection and processing strategies - by leading everyone through a hands-on integration and scaling of modulated single-crystal data. All of these lecturers made themselves available for one-on-one interactions with the workshop participants throughout the meeting.

The formal instruction periods of the workshop were supplemented with a number of social activities to promote networking among the participants. Each day started with a continental breakfast in the lecture hall, where everyone could mingle and discuss science with the other attendees. These discussions continued during the coffee breaks, as well as the three lunches and two dinners that were provided to the attendees. The UCSD crystallography lab, known as Diffractopia, was open before, during and after the workshop, and several people brought challenging crystals from their home labs to run on one of the nine state-of-the art, custom-built diffractometers in the UCSD facility. Tours of other famous UCSD landmarks, including the Geisel Library and the Fallen Star House were offered, as was a sunset hike through the Scripps Coastal Reserve near campus. No matter what their experience level and research interests were, everyone who came to this workshop learned something new and left a better scientist.

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08 May 2019
A tribute to Kazutake Kohra (1921–2019)
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A tribute to Kazutake Kohra (1921–2019)

Kazutake Kohra photographed in 2016 and the title page from an article that he published, along with Seishi Kikuta, in the first issue of Acta Cryst. A.

Kazutake Kohra, Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo, Japan, passed away on 31 January 2019 at the age of 97. After graduating from the University of Kyushu, he was appointed an Associate Professor at the University of Kyushu, and moved to the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Tokyo in 1953. He spent two years (from September 1955 to December 1957) at the Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft in Berlin, Germany, when Max von Laue acted as its director. In 1963, he moved to the Department of Applied Physics in the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Tokyo and brought up many competent researchers who later on, up to now, have been working in the field of synchrotron radiation research.

Immediately after retiring from the University of Tokyo in 1979, he was appointed the first director of the Photon Factory, which was commissioned in 1982 at Tsukuba, Japan, as one of the first second-generation synchrotron radiation facilities in the world. The realization and success of the Photon Factory would have been impossible without the enormous leadership and great personality of Professor Kohra. He also acted as the first president of the Japanese Society of Synchrotron Radiation Research (JSSRR).

His primary research field was concerned with the dynamical theory of X-ray diffraction and its application to the observation of imperfections of crystals such as silicon and quartz using X-ray topographic methods. The high-precision X-ray optics with multiple crystals that he developed have been highly regarded.

Group photo taken in Berlin in 1957. Back row from left to right: Kazutake Kohra, Max von Laue and Gerhard Borrmann. Front row from left to right: Mrs von Laue and Mrs Kohra.

Professor Kohra had very close contact with Dr von Laue during his two-year stay in Berlin (see photo above) and often talked about their valuable interactions to us students, which still remain deeply in myself.

We all appreciated the prominent research activities, enormous leadership and great personality of Professor Kohra, and mourn his loss.

Yoshiyuki Amemiya is Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo, Japan.

Search for papers by Kohra, K. in Crystallography Journals Online.

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25 Apr 2019
International Workshop on Chemical Crystallography and Structural Biology
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International Workshop on Chemical Crystallography and Structural Biology

Commemorative conference medal. The front side features Prof. Struchkov’s profile and the reverse a fragment of a scientifically significant polynuclear complex whose structure was established at the INEOS X-ray Laboratory.

Better late than never. This old adage was probably on the minds of many former colleagues and students of the outstanding Russian crystallographer, Vice-President of the IUCr from 1993 to 1995, Yuri Struchkov (1926–1995), when they assembled on 13–16 November 2018 for the Second Struchkov Meeting, the International Workshop on Chemical Crystallography and Structural Biology. This is the first time this meeting has been held in Moscow, Russia, where Prof. Struchkov lived and worked all his life. The conference continued the tradition of gathering the students and colleagues of Prof. Struchkov to share their new and inspirational scientific achievements as well as precious memories of former collaborations. The first meeting took place more than 10 years ago in Chicago, IL, USA; see IUCr Newsletter (2007). 15(3), 17. The current, Second Struchkov Meeting was supported by the Russian Academic Excellence Project “5-100” and hosted by Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University). The conference's organizational efforts were spearheaded by the Research Institute of Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry Department of RUDN University chaired by V. N. Khrustalev, himself a former colleague of Prof. Struchkov.

The four-day meeting attracted 150 participants from Azerbaijan, Belarus, France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Sweden and USA and featured 48 lectures. Two satellite events preceded the opening ceremony: a workshop on advanced structural refinement techniques by I. A. Guzei (University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA) and a round-table discussion “Advances in Modern X-ray Structural Analysis” chaired by S. V. Lindeman (Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, USA). The attendees also enjoyed a social program including a get-together reception and conference dinner, as well as a Moscow sightseeing tour for international participants.

Conference participants, named left to right. Top row: Aida Samigullina, Yuri Slovokhotov, Oleg Siidra, Inna Dubchak, Nikolai Lobanov, Ilia Guzei, Alexander Korlyukov, Alexey Bilyachenko, Alexander Novikov, Olga Bulavchenko, Dmitriy Yatsenko, Vladimir Larionov, Maria Khrenova, Fedor Dolgushin, Alexander Virovets, Sergey Lindeman, Eugenia Peresypkina. Bottom row: Daut Islamov, Victor Khrustalev, Evgeny Nazarchuk, Andreii Kritchenkov, Vakhobjon Sabirov, Bolot Sadybakasov, Susan Byram, Igor Litvinov, Asylbek Yespenbetov, Irena Akhrem, Leonid Aslanov, Georgii Bogdanov, Kyryll Suponitskii, Georgy Fukin, Olga Lindeman, Tatiana Timofeeva, Alex Yanovsky, Arkady Ellern, Olga Kovalchukova, Ruben Gerr.

On the opening day, after greetings from the Conference Organizing Committee presented by T. V. Timofeeva (New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas, NV, USA) and the latest announcements from the Chairman of the Struchkov Prize Panel, L. A. Aslanov (Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia), plenary lectures by I. A. Litvinov (Arbuzov Institute of Organic and Physical Chemistry, Kazan, Russia) and S. K. Byram (Bruker AXS Inc., Madison, WI, USA) gave historic accounts of Prof. Struchkov’s role in the development of organic crystal chemistry as well as the spread and proliferation of crystallographic instrumentation in the Soviet Union and, later, Russia. Subsequent lectures in the first three days were primarily delivered by former colleagues of the Institute of Organoelement Compounds (INEOS) X-Ray Laboratory, founded by Prof. Struchkov in the 1970s. The talks encompassed many scientific areas, illustrating the scope of modern day studies of members of Prof. Struchkov’s school. The speakers offered serious scholarly assessments of the state of diverse subjects, mostly constructed along the then-vs-now model. Most presenters also took the opportunity to offer personal historical insights and a good measure of nostalgic reminiscences, which always elicited vivid reactions from the understanding audience. The majority of the participants share more than common scientific interests and memories; they regularly make contributions toward the financial and organizational support for the Struchkov Prize, an annual award bestowed upon a young Russian scientist for the best work in a field related to crystallography. This prize was established soon after the untimely death of Prof. Struchkov, see IUCr Newsletter (2000). 8(4), 18, and awarded for the 22nd time in the fall of 2018. Many of the award laureates have become well-known scientists and leading authorities in their respective fields ranging from inorganic chemistry to biology and engineering. Their impressive achievements were highlighted on the fourth day of the conference in a special session featuring talks by the former Struchkov Prize winners. All the speakers at the Conference received commemorative medals (see photo at the beginning of the article).

The particulars of the conference, including the book of abstracts, are available here.

The participants and, perhaps even more importantly, organizers closed the conference with a firm commitment to make it a regular event happening at least every 3–5 years. The organizers overcame many financial and logistical difficulties to hold this truly remarkable meeting. We are confident that the Struchkov Prize Society will build on this success and that the next meeting will eventually happen.

Donations to the Struchkov Prize Association [501(c)(3) charitable organization] are welcome. The full amount of all contributions (100%) is deposited in the Struchkov Prize fund, and subsequently awarded to the Struchkov Prize competition laureates. If you wish to make a tax-deductible contribution, please contact Alex Yanovsky.

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10 Apr 2019
15th Conference of the Asian Crystallographic Association
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15th Conference of the Asian Crystallographic Association

Recipients of IUCr Young Scientist Awards flanked by LOC Co-Chair Kurt Krause (left) and AsCA President Jenny Martin.

The 15th Conference of the Asian Crystallographic Association (AsCA) was held in Auckland, New Zealand, from 2 to 5 December 2018, in association with the 32nd meeting of the Society of Crystallographers in Australia and New Zealand (SCANZ). The conference venue, at the University of Auckland, proved to be an outstanding one, with excellent lecture theatres and very good spaces for delegates to mingle, and for interaction with each other and with the sponsors.

The conference attracted an impressive total of 477 registrants from 28 countries, with very pleasing attendances of scientists from Japan (86), China (47), Taiwan (29), Korea (34), India (19) and other Asian countries. Included in the attendees were 20 young scientists supported from IUCr funding.

The scientific programme included Plenary lectures by David Eisenberg (USA), Susan Lea (UK), Cameron Kepert (Australia) and Amy Rosenzweig (USA); that by Professor Eisenberg, "Proteins on the Edge: Amyloid Formation in Health and Disease", was opened to enable members of the public to attend. Keynote lectures were given by Yanli Wang (China), Hiroshi Kitagawa (Japan), Richard Neutze (Sweden), Catherine Day (New Zealand), Deanna D’Alessandro (Australia) and Ayana Sato-Tomita (Japan). The meeting opened with a special lecture on “Crystallography as seen through the lens of the Nobel Prize” by Anders Liljas (Sweden) and concluded with a Rising Stars Symposium featuring six outstanding young scientists from Australia, Japan, India, Pakistan and New Zealand. The general programme was organised into three parallel streams of six microsymposia each, broadly subdivided into Biological Crystallography (including cryo-EM), Chemistry and Materials, and Advanced Methods.

A very enjoyable conference dinner, sponsored by Rigaku and preceded by a traditional Maori welcome, was held in a spectacular venue at the Auckland Museum, situated on the flank of one of Auckland’s volcanic cones, and looking out over the harbour and beyond.

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10 Apr 2019
Interest in data flourishes at AsCA
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Interest in data flourishes at AsCA

Speakers and Chairs (left to right): Amy Sarjeant (Co-Chair), Stephen Burley, James Hester, Matthew Lightfoot, Janet Newman, Brian McMahon, Takeshi Kawabata and Genji Kurisu (Co-Chair).

Late last year I had the pleasure of traveling to Auckland, New Zealand, to attend the 2018 meeting of the Asian Crystallographic Association (AsCA). I’m sure this won’t be the only update about this excellent conference, but I wanted to take this opportunity to write a short summary of the session I co-chaired with Genji Kurisu of PDBj. Early on in 2018, we had been asked to chair a session entitled “Database developments, validation and data mining.” This was the first time a session devoted solely to databases was included as part of the program for the AsCA meeting series. As our community continues to tackle the issues surrounding data sharing under the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable), sessions like this will play an important role in outlining our response to these challenges. For our session, we were fortunate to be able to include a variety of talks from a truly international set of speakers. Topics ranged from understanding the nature of a dataset itself, to data validation and everything in between.

James Hester of ANSTO kicked off the session by posing the question “What is a dataset?” As crystallographers we use the word “dataset” constantly, but often without pondering its meaning. James walked us through an approach to mapping raw image data files to imgCIF format, thereby providing a protocol for systematic raw data archive and sharing. From there, Janet Newman of the CSIRO Collaborative Crystallisation Centre (C3) took us on a tour of C6 (Comparison of Crystallization Conditions @ C3). She highlighted some of the challenges in standardizing crystallization screen data and some of the tools her team is making available to analyse crystallization results.

The next two presentations provided updates and insights into the status of the Cambridge Structural Database and the PDB. Matthew Lightfoot of the CCDC detailed some of the work his team has been doing in understanding the quality of datasets deposited with CCDC and improving data validation through the deposition workflow. Stephen Burley of the RSCB PDB detailed the efforts of his team to identify and correct ligand refinements in PDB structures. Toward the end of his presentation, Stephen highlighted the impact of the PDB on drug approvals by the US Food and Drug Administration. Continuing with updates from the PDB, Takeshi Kawabata of the Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, provided a look at what PDBj is doing with data from electron microscopy (EM) studies. Takeshi detailed the EMPIAR archive of raw 2D EM images as well as EM Navigator, which provides a user-friendly interface to the EMDB server.

Finally, the session concluded with a contribution from Brian McMahon of the IUCr entitled “The element of trust: validating and valuing crystallographic data.” Brian’s presentation touched on the utility of the CIF file not only as a means of sharing data but also as an enabler for data checking and validation. This talk underscored the importance of focusing on data-sharing practices and protocols, which stood at the heart of every presentation. Without standardization, we lack the ability to validate the data we are using. And without the validation, what can we truly say about the scientific conclusion we draw from these collections of data?

Sessions on data management and archive provide a forum for concerned researchers to share experiences and agree on standard practices. As members of the structural science community, we have a responsibility to provide the highest quality data achievable from our experimental studies. I would encourage everyone to look through the talks described above on the IUCr website to learn more about ongoing efforts throughout the crystallographic community.

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03 Apr 2019
ICTP Workshop on Crystal Structure Prediction
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ICTP Workshop on Crystal Structure Prediction

Thanks to enormous progress in computing power and algorithm development, we are now closer to being able to predict the crystal structure of any material from the simple knowledge of its composition. This is the first necessary step for predicting in silico the property of a material and planning modifications that could improve these properties. A critical discussion of the algorithms developed in the last few years for the in silico prediction of crystal structures was the main theme of a workshop that took place at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy, from 14 to 18 January 2019. The event, titled “Workshop on Crystal Structure Prediction: Exploring the Mendeleev Table as a Palette to Design New Materials”, focused in particular on approaches based on molecular modelling and was an opportunity to celebrate 2019 as the International Year of the Periodic Table, as crystal structure prediction is rooted in a deep knowledge of the properties of the atoms, and, in turn, numerous discoveries made with the help of crystal structure prediction reveal new (often completely unexpected) sides to the behavior of the atoms.

The workshop was directed by A. Laio (Trieste), G. Desiraju (Bangalore) and the authors of this report. It was divided into two parts: the first three days were dedicated to an in-depth and critical discussion of the methods with talks given by world experts in the field. The last two days were devoted to “hands-on” computer labs where the younger participants were given the opportunity to learn how to use the most advanced codes for crystal structure prediction, including “Universal Structure Predictor: Evolutionary Xtallography” (USPEX) and “Ab initio Random Structure Searching” (AIRSS).

Invited talks were given during the advanced part of the workshop by Z. Allahyari (Moscow), F. Baletto (London), V. Deringer (Cambridge), L. Ghiringhelli (Berlin), S. Goedecker (Basel), O. Isayev (Chapel Hill), E. Kucukbenli (Trieste), A. Kvashnin (Moscow), R. Martonak (Bratislava), L. Monacelli (Rome), V. Naden Robinson (Trieste), A. R. Oganov (Moscow), P. Piaggi (Lausanne), C. J. Pickard (Cambridge), A. M. Saitta (Paris), G. Schusteritsch (Cambridge), G. Tribello (Belfast), P. Villars (MPDS Co.) and Q. Zhu (Las Vegas).

The presentations highlighted methodological aspects as well as recent applications of the different methods, especially methods based on evolutionary algorithms such as USPEX (talks by Oganov, Allahyari, Kvashnin and Zhu), methods based on random sampling such as AIRSS (talks by Pickard and Schusteritsch), enhanced molecular-dynamics methods such as “metadynamics” (talks by Martonak and Piaggi), and basin-hopping methods (talk by Goedecker). Data-mining and data-based approaches were discussed by Villars and Ghiringhelli. The relevance of machine-learning methods, especially neural networks, was emphasized by many speakers, and especially by Isayev, Deringer and Kucukbenli. The hands-on sessions were led by Kucukbenli (on “Quantum-Espresso”), Allahyari (on “USPEX”) and Schusteritsch (on “AIRSS”). M. Ferri, S. Laporte and Y. Shaidu, PhD students at the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), provided supplementary support to the students.

Mike Glazer (Oxford), former Vice-President of the IUCr, gave a colloquium titled “Crystallography: Then, Now, and …..?”. The colloquium took place in the main lecture hall of the ICTP and was open to the entire ICTP scientific community. It was an opportunity to review the history of crystallography and highlight the important contributions given by the field to science and society.

Of the 78 participants, 23 gave lectures and 55 younger attendees presented posters and attended the hands-on tutorials. In line with the mission of the ICTP to be a global hub for science with a special regard for the developing world, participants came from 25 different countries including Cameroon, Iran, Nigeria, Congo, Argentina, Iran, Colombia and India. The workshop was co-sponsored by the European network “Psi-k”.

Artem R. Oganov is a Full Professor at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Moscow, Russia. Sandro Scandolo is a Senior Research Scientist at ICTP, Trieste, Italy.

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19 Mar 2019
Introduction to Crystallographic Techniques
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Introduction to Crystallographic Techniques

To promote the development of research as well as constant training, the Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo and the Department of Chemistry of the Faculty of Sciences organized the First International Congress of Chemistry Ecuador 2018 (I-CIQ-Ec-18) and the Pre-Congress Course "Introduction to Crystallographic Techniques" in Riobamba, Ecuador, with the collaboration of the IUCr, the Latin American Crystallographic Association (LACA) and the International Center for Diffraction Data (ICDD).

Pre-Congress Course (27-30 July 2018)

The Course was attended by students, teachers and researchers from different universities, mainly from the central region of the country, including the Central University of Ecuador, the University of the Armed Forces (ESPE), the University Yachay Tech, the Technical University of Ambato and the Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo. The participants came from different areas: chemistry, biotechnology, environmental biotechnology, geology and mines, mechanics, biochemistry, nanotechnology, chemical engineering and polymer engineering.

The Course was aimed at introducing crystallography and crystallographic techniques to promote the development of crystallography in Ecuador as well as satisfying the need for specialized training in the area of analysis by crystallographic techniques. Its objectives were as follows:

to transmit the principles of crystallography and the qualitative and quantitative applications of powder diffraction
to introduce the principles of the analysis of powder and monocrystalline samples by X-ray diffraction
to interpret the procedures for refining and determining crystalline structures using the Rietveld method.

The trainers were IUCr Visiting Professors Diego Lamas (Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Argentina) and Graciela Díaz del Delgado (Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela), and Miguel Delgado (Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela).

First International Congress of Chemistry (31 July-2 August 2018)

The Congress was held to promote scientific research at the national level through the dissemination of research results in the area of chemistry, proposing the following objectives:

to invite recognized national and international researchers in the field of chemistry
to present to the academic community the testimony and experiences of one of the winners of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Ada Yonath
to exchange research results in the area of chemistry
to promote the structuring of research networks.

This event also included the participation of Professors Lamas and Díaz de Delgado, who gave the keynote lectures “The History and Current Impact of Crystallography” and “Characterization of Drugs and Medications by X-ray Diffraction in Polycrystalline and Mono-Crystal Samples”, respectively.

Principal guest Ada Yonath (fourth from left) with organizers and speakers.

Professors Lamas, Díaz de Delgado and Delgado also participated in the event recognizing the Nobel Laureate Ada Yonath, which took place in the municipality of the city of Riobamba, and in a meeting with teachers and researchers from the Faculty of Sciences to establish networks and contacts for future projects.

Both the Pre-Congress Course and the Congress were received very well, exceeding expectations. There was interest in crystallography as well as analytical techniques, raising the possibility of working towards the development of an OpenLab in Ecuador.

The Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo, the Faculty of Sciences, Chemistry Department and the Organizing Committee of the I-CIQ-Ec-18 thank the IUCr, LACA and the ICDD for their support in developing both the Pre-Congress Course as well as for the participation of their representatives as keynote speakers in the Congress.

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15 Mar 2019
XXV Conference of the Serbian Crystallographic Society
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XXV Conference of the Serbian Crystallographic Society

The XXV Conference of the Serbian Crystallographic Society was held from 21 to 23 June 2018 in Bajina Bašta, a small town located at the edge of Tara National Park in western Serbia. The conference was organised by the Serbian Crystallographic Society (SCS) and the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, University of Belgrade, under the patronage of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. The conference was attended by 70 participants from 14 countries. The programme was composed of welcome addresses, invited lectures (45 min), short oral presentations (15 min) and an extended poster session. The IUCr supported the conference by providing Visiting Professorships and a fund of USD2500 to assist young scientists to attend. The invitation to attend the conference as Visiting Professors (VPs) and plenary lecturers was kindly accepted by Vaclav Petříček (Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic), Ivana Radosavljević Evans (Durham University, UK) and Christoph Janiak (Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Germany). The SCS also had a pleasure of hosting three other eminent scientists: Anne Spasojevic-de Biré (CentraleSupélec, France), Piero Macchi (University of Bern, Switzerland) and Kittipong Chainok (Thammasat University, Thailand).

The IUCr fund for young scientists was used to support the travel and accommodation expenses for 16 young participants. These young scientists could choose to present their latest results through an oral or a poster presentation or both. The workshop “Crystallographic methods, tools and possibilities” was organised in the form of a two-day extended poster session. During this session, the young scientists were encouraged to present the challenging problems of their current research and to exchange ideas about problem solving with our international guests and other participants. The poster session was very well attended, with 33 posters being available for the whole duration of the conference. Two young scientists – Ivana Marjanović (University of Novi Sad, Serbia) and Predrag Dabić (University of Belgrade, Serbia) – were honoured with the IUCr Journals Poster Prizes for the best posters in the categories of Structural Chemistry and Materials, respectively, judged by Professors Spasojevic-de Biré, Chainok and Tamara Todorović (University of Belgrade, Serbia). An additional Poster Prize was provided by the SCS, which considered the best poster in all categories. The VPs prepared a special award for the best oral presentation given by the IUCr-supported young scientists, which was won by Marko Rodić (University of Novi Sad, Serbia) for his talk "Preliminary Results of Experimental Charge Density Determination of [Ni(L)py] (H₂L = benzoylacetone S-methylisothiosemicarbazone)".

Marko Rodić (left) receives his VP Prize, a copy of the IUCr/OUP book Fundamentals of Crystallography by Giacovazzo et al., from VP Ivana Radosavljević Evans.

In general, the conference covered a wide range of topics: single-crystal and powder diffraction, chemical crystallography, crystal engineering, charge density, quantum-chemical and database studies, and materials science. The event passed in an informal and friendly atmosphere with stimulating discussions during the sessions as well as in the coffee breaks. We hope that the conference helped our young colleagues to get better acquainted with the possibilities of contemporary crystallographic research and to recognize appropriate methods for further improvement of their work. On the last day of the conference, all participants were invited on a guided excursion to the beautiful Tara Mountain, River Drina and Perućac Lake. The General Assembly of SCS evaluated the conference as very successful and the generous support from the IUCr was gratefully acknowledged. The presence of the excellent lecturers and the IUCr support for young scientists certainly contributed to the increased number of conference participants compared with the SCS conferences held in previous years.

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The IUCr Newsletter (ISSN 1067-0696; coden IUC-NEB) is published electronically by the International Union of Crystallography. Feature articles, meeting announcements and reports, information on research or other items of potential interest to crystallographers may be submitted to the Editors at any time. Items will be selected for publication on the basis of suitability, content, style, timeliness and appeal.

IUCr Newsletter

IUCr Newsletter

2018 Jana Modulation Workshop

Latest articles

2018 Jana Modulation Workshop

2018 Jana Modulation Workshop

A tribute to Kazutake Kohra (1921–2019)

A tribute to Kazutake Kohra (1921–2019)

International Workshop on Chemical Crystallography and Structural Biology

International Workshop on Chemical Crystallography and Structural Biology

15th Conference of the Asian Crystallographic Association

15th Conference of the Asian Crystallographic Association

Interest in data flourishes at AsCA

Interest in data flourishes at AsCA

ICTP Workshop on Crystal Structure Prediction

ICTP Workshop on Crystal Structure Prediction

Introduction to Crystallographic Techniques

Introduction to Crystallographic Techniques

Pre-Congress Course (27-30 July 2018)

First International Congress of Chemistry (31 July-2 August 2018)

XXV Conference of the Serbian Crystallographic Society

XXV Conference of the Serbian Crystallographic Society

newsletter design: Michele Zema, Andrea Sharpe, Peter Strickland, Brian McMahon; newsletter logo design: Michele Zema