“It is an unexpected privilege and pleasure to have helped to achieve such an important milestone for the CSD and for the whole crystallographic community. 

I always illustrate the importance of crystallography to my students by reminding them that the number of published structures grows with the pace of about one structure every 10 minutes, day and night, 24/7. 1.25 million published structures is an amazing number, and I want to congratulate the whole team behind the CSD as well as to all fellow crystallographers who made this possible. 

I think it is also symptomatic that the 1.25 millionth CSD structure is a structure determined by 3D electron diffraction. I believe that the number of structures determined by 3D ED in the CSD will quickly grow in the near future.”

The International Tables Symmetry Database, part of International Tables for Crystallography, is a collection of individual databases of crystallographic space-group and point-group information. Programs are provided to access and interactively visualize the data, and also allow new data to be calculated 'on the fly', facilitating the in-depth study of group–subgroup relations, domain structures and twinning, families of related crystal structures and phase transitions, and the prediction of new crystal structures. The Symmetry Database has been available since 2011 to subscribers to the online version of International Tables for Crystallography, and is periodically supplemented with exciting new features.

In a highly informative open-access article in the Teaching and Education section of the latest issue of the Journal of Applied Crystallography, Gemma de la Flor, Eli Kroumova, Robert M. Hanson and Mois I. Aroyo present the server-side crystallographic programs and interactive visualizers of the Symmetry Database and provide examples showing how they can be used.

An appendix to the article, based on information from the Teaching Edition of International Tables for Crystallography and International Tables for Crystallography Volume A, provides some basic definitions and explanations of the notation used in the description of symmetry operations, coordinate transformations, and subgroups and supergroups of space groups.

We strongly urge you to read this comprehensive guide to the many different features and uses of this unique resource.

As one of the Main Editors of Acta Crystallographica F – Structural Biology Communications, I am delighted to share our exciting plans and vision for the future of our journal. Acta Cryst. F has long been a cornerstone in the structural biology community, and our commitment to excellence remains unwavering.

Embracing innovation. In the ever-evolving landscape of scientific publishing, Acta Cryst. F is poised to embrace innovation. We are dedicated to incorporating cutting-edge technologies, data visualization tools and interactive features, such as interviews with authors, to enhance the reader’s experience. Our goal is to create a dynamic platform that not only disseminates research but also fosters engagement and collaboration within the structural biology community.

Diverse and inclusive content. Recognizing the importance of diversity in scientific research, Acta Cryst. F aims to amplify underrepresented voices in structural biology. We will actively seek contributions that reflect a broad spectrum of perspectives, methodologies and applications. By doing so, we hope to enrich the journal’s content and provide a more comprehensive view of the field.

Special issues and focus sections. To address emerging trends and interdisciplinary collaborations, Acta Cryst. F will introduce special issues and focus sections. These thematic collections will delve into specific areas of structural biology, such as fragment screening by X-ray crystallography, artificial intelligence methods for structure prediction and more, showcasing in-depth analyses, reviews and breakthroughs. We encourage researchers to propose topics for these special issues to ensure a wide-ranging coverage of the field.

Enhanced review and publication processes. Recognizing the value of your time and contributions, we are working to streamline our review and publication processes. Our aim is to provide faster and more transparent feedback to authors while maintaining the high standards of quality that Acta Cryst. F is known for.

Engaging with early career researchers. Acta Cryst. F is committed to nurturing the next generation of structural biologists. We will introduce author workshops and dedicated sections for early career researchers. Fostering a supportive environment for budding scientists is crucial for the sustained growth of our field.

Community feedback and involvement. Your input is invaluable. Acta Cryst. F will actively seek feedback from the structural biology community through surveys and social media interactions. We believe that involving our readership in shaping the journal’s direction is fundamental to its success. Moreover, we plan to leverage social media platforms for enhanced visibility and engagement, ensuring that our valuable content reaches a broader audience.

In conclusion, the future of Acta Cryst. F is bright, dynamic and collaborative. We invite you to embark on this journey with us as we work towards advancing structural biology and pushing the boundaries of scientific publishing.

Thank you for your continued support.

This article was originally published in Acta Cryst. (2023). F79, 294.

I am writing this letter as we are in the midst of the Christmas season, as we are about to close the year 2023, which marked our 75th anniversary as a scientific organisation, and as we are about to begin 2024.

In the years between IUCr Congresses, 2024 and 2025, the spotlight should be aimed at our Regional Associates, ACA, AfCA, AsCA, ECA and LACA, all of which have announced their next meetings. This will be a wonderful opportunity to take the pulse of the state of crystallography and structural science at a regional level and also to establish new bilateral and multilateral connections between the Regional Associates and the National Committees. The IUCr, through its Meetings Support Committee, is doing its best to facilitate the participation of young scientists and to have the maximum prominence in these meetings and often associated schools. Our journals are very interested in the contributions arising from these meetings.

The calls for nominations for our flagship Ewald, Bragg and Struchkov Prizes are coming soon. The Union makes a significant financial effort to recognise the careers of the most brilliant crystallographers and structural scientists at various stages of their careers, and it is very necessary for us to be able to identify the best candidates in all scientific areas, particularly women. Therefore I ask for your collaboration with the Selection Committees in nominating candidates to ensure that the awardees are the best possible representation of our excellence and our diversity.

The IUCr Committees and Commissions, once consolidated after the renewal of their members approved by the 26th General Assembly in Melbourne, will be renewing their activity in the various scientific and organisational areas that constitute the heart of our Union and that set the guidelines for our future scientific developments. At the moment, all our Commissions are working at a good pace with the autonomy that characterises their mode of operation within the framework of the IUCr, according to the updated guidelines.

Our ten scientific journals and International Tables, together with this Newsletter and the other IUCr publications, provide the image of both our scientific level and our social contribution. They also provide us with the necessary financial return to maintain our functioning and the patrimony of our activities in order to promote the development of crystallography and structural science in the most economically and academic disadvantaged areas and to ensure the generational renewal of our scientific community.

The new members of the Executive Committee have organised their visits to our office in Chester to familiarise themselves with the activity of the 24 people who constitute the stable nucleus that efficiently carries out our technical and administrative work, essential for the functioning of the IUCr. Also, this group is very conditioned by the inevitable generational handover, for which – under the supervision of our Finance and Executive Committees – the IUCr CEO, Dr Alex Stanley, must plan with a vision for the future.

It was good for the new General Secretary and Treasurer, Professor Trevor Forsyth, and me to meet many of our team in Chester and see the initiatives being implemented to make publishing in our journals more attractive and make our journals more competitive. We also need the help of our scientific Commissions and our Regional Associates and National Committees to convince every scientist to publish their best contributions in IUCr journals. I consider that it is especially important for us to make it easy for young people to make their first scientific contributions to our journals and encourage them to transmit their comments through our Newsletter and social networks.

Trevor’s role must be decisive in the configuration of the working teams and in the control of the activity of the Chester office and in the control of the finances and resources of the Union. This intention framed our recent working visit to Chester, on 27 and 28 November, where we met with Professor Malcolm Cooper, the Convener of the IUCr Finance Committee, as well as Alex and Peter Strickland, Executive Managing Editor, visiting the different sections of the office and noting the technical and administrative improvements underway, as well as the various threats to the Union.

I would like to remember, emotionally and gratefully, those who left us in 2023 and send a message of appreciation to their families, colleagues and friends. I would also like to welcome those who joined the IUCr, either via their National Committees or as members of the IUCr Associates Programme. I do not want to forget our industrial partners, who are so supportive of our meetings and schools with their financial and technical contributions. Thank you very much for being an important part of the IUCr family.

The process initiated in Melbourne to define our Purpose, Vision and Values in an open and participatory way, to ensure the scientific and social leadership of crystallography and structural science for the remainder of the 21st century, is advancing according to the planned steps. A survey to gather the opinion of the global IUCr community has recently been conducted to concretise the ideas that best define our identity and our objectives. The results will be presented to the entire community once they have been analysed by the Executive Committee.

The Executive Committee, which had its first virtual bimonthly meeting on 7 November and has another planned for 9 January, will meet in person in Denver, CO, USA, in July 2024, coinciding with the ACA’s annual meeting. The Finance Committee meeting will be held at the same place in the preceding days. Prior to that, in March, we will have the spring meetings of the Journal Management Board in Chester and the Finance Committee in Lund, Sweden.

The Executive Committee, through its President or some of its members, will try to be present, representing the IUCr, at the most important regional and international events for the IUCr.

Our representative in the International Science Council (ISC), Dr Hanna Dabkowska, has reported on the approval process of the new ISC statutes, which, after intense activity by the International Unions, are proposed with an important protagonism of the International Unions in the decision-making processes of the Organisation. This is good news, which we hope will be confirmed in the coming months. In more good news, I would like to congratulate Hanna on her recent appointment as an ISC Fellow. The ISC Fellowship recognises individuals for their outstanding contributions to the promotion of science as a global public good, and is the highest honour that can be conferred on an individual by the ISC.

The collaborative projects being developed with governments, companies and non-governmental organisations will give an extraordinary boost to the development of science in all regions of the world. The Africa Initiative, led by Professor Claude Lecomte, is achieving important results, and other activities in Kenya, led by Professor JuanMa García-Ruiz, with important local support, are in progress. The worldwide 2023 IUCr Crystal growing competition for schoolchildren is also in progress. The development of new infrastructures in less developed countries and the project Light Sources for Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East Project (LAAAMP) are going well. And the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development, now drawing to a close, has served as a prelude to the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development 2024–2032 (IDSSD).

In this time of serious and bloody international conflicts and natural disasters, many of them due to the climate change that our societies are causing, global scientific societies must be able to identify their role in building a better world for future generations, based on scientific, technical and humanistic knowledge. As expressed before, our role is to promote, defend and protect science and scientist, keep ourselves out of fanaticism of any kind, by maintaining the bonds of scientific collaboration above conflicts and align ourselves with the progress of global society in terms of peace, justice and equity, diversity and sustainability. We have to ensure that future generations have open minds, global awareness and the resources and conditions to sustain a better and better life on the planet, and this is not only for the human species but also to maintain the planet's biodiversity and wildlife.

Once again, many thanks to all those who form and make our organisation work, the Regional Associates, the IUCr Commissions and Committees, Editors, Co-editors, referees and authors of our journals, our Chester staff and all individual crystallographers, women and men.

Thanks to IUCr Newsletter Editor Mike Glazer, his team and all contributors.

Many thanks to all for keeping the IUCr alive, active, strong and human.

Happy 2024 from all of us!

On 19–21 August 2023, the Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy (MCEM) hosted the Electron Crystallography School 2023 (ECS2023) as a satellite event to the 26th IUCr Congress. The School was organised by the IUCr Commission on Electron Crystallography, with Hongyi Xu, Tatiana Gorelik, Mauro Gemmi and Laure Bourgeois as co-chairs.

The ECS2023 focused on two broad topics that have seen considerable development in the last decade or so: 4D scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM) and 3D/micro-electron diffraction (3D-ED). These developments have led to major advances in the characterisation of the atomic-scale structure of solid matter, from energy materials and green chemicals to glasses, proteins and pharmaceutical compounds.

The School was aimed at postgraduate students, early-career researchers and newcomers to the field. It offered a series of lectures on the fundamental theory underpinning 4D-STEM and 3D-ED, together with historical background, software demonstrations and hands-on tutorials. The intensive program also included a live demonstration on MCEM’s latest transmission electron microscope acquisition, the Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra-φ. A session was dedicated to presentations from industry scientists. There was also a lively poster session and a tour of MCEM facilities.

ECS2023 included presentations from many distinguished international scientists including Professor Lukáš Palatinus from the Czech Academy of Sciences, shown here.

The School was very fortunate to have 20 distinguished scientists from both overseas and Australia as its speakers. Amongst them were Ute Kolb (Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz) and Jian-Min Zuo (University of Illinois), past and present recipients of the Gjønnes Medal in Electron Crystallography, the highest distinction in the field.

Over 70 delegates from 13 countries and 4 continents attended the School, with students and researchers from countries as far away as Brazil, Belgium and China. This included a significant cohort from the X-ray crystallography community. Feedback from attendees was very positive, with appreciation shown not only for the quality of the program but also for the opportunity to meet with the broad crystallography community.

The organising committee is grateful for the generous support from the following sponsors: the IUCr, Microscopy Australia, the Society of Crystallographers in Australia and New Zealand (SCANZ), Rigaku, JEOL, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Dectris, ReadCrystal, Gatan Ametek and NanoMEGAS. The IUCr grants supported 13 PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, 4 of whom came from overseas (Belgium, Germany and China).

More detail can be found on the ECS2023 website.

Reports from IUCr grant recipients

Loreibelle Abian, Monash University, Australia

This student recipient was given the opportunity to attend the Electron Crystallography School 2023 last 19–21 August 2023 at Monash University-Clayton Campus, Clayton, Victoria, Australia. The said endeavour was attended by postgraduate students and early-career researchers coming from different countries as well as remarkable presenters from diverse fields of electron crystallography. The invited speakers talked about the advances in electron crystallography and cutting-edge technologies behind the state-of-the art instruments used in electron microscopy. The 3-day activity enabled the student to widen her horizon in the area of electron diffraction as she learned about other electron microscopy methods aside from the convergent-beam electron diffraction (CBED) technique which she currently employs in her research in investigating chemical bonding in inhomogeneous materials. The discussions during the lectures tackled CBED, scanning electron nanodiffraction (SEND), 4D scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM), 3D electron diffraction (3D-ED) and micro-electron diffraction (MicroED). The presentations were excellently delivered in that they undertook not only the fundamentals in crystallography and microscopy but also the latest research into which a speaker’s group is involved. Moreover, the participants were provided with a platform to share their research during the poster presentation on the evening of the first day where they were able to acquire insights and recommendations from renowned scientists and experts who graced the said event. The student would like to extend her gratitude for the sponsorship to join ECS which has given her an avenue to learn more about her research and to connect and build networks with fellow researchers.

Bikas Aryal, Monash University, Australia

The Electron Crystallography School (ECS) held at Monash University provided the attendees with both theoretical concepts of electron diffraction through excellent lectures and practical concepts through live software and TEM operation demonstrations. The ECS covered a wide range of topics related to electron diffraction and crystallography, such as selected area electron diffraction (SAED), scanning electron nanodiffraction (SEND), scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), quantitative convergent-beam electron diffraction (QCBED), MicroED, ptychography and 4D-STEM. By participating in ECS, I got a chance to understand the fundamentals of electron diffraction and advances in different techniques like 4D-STEM, SEND, MicroED and ptychography. As my research focuses on chemical bonding studies using QCBED, I enjoyed the talks “Direct observation of d-holes in Cu₂O” and “Measuring vacancy concentrations, chemical bonding and lattice contraction around nanovoids in aluminium by QCBED”.

Furthermore, the ECS provided me with an opportunity to meet world-renowned experts such as Jian-Min Zuo, Randi Holmestad, Lukáš Palatinus, Ute Kolb and Colin Ophus. I discussed future collaborations with Professor Zuo. I also met many early-career researchers and representatives from different companies. We discussed new research directions and explored industrial collaborations.

I am grateful for the International Union of Crystallography's (IUCr) financial assistance, which greatly aided in covering my travel costs. The main benefit of these scholarships is their capacity to open up educational opportunities and scientific events to a wide range of participants.

Wei Chao, Monash University, Australia

I am so honoured and grateful for being selected as a recipient of an IUCr grant, which has allowed me to participate in the Electron Crystallography School. The school seamlessly integrated applications of electron diffraction in both materials science and biology, providing me with a highly educational and inspirational experience. This unique opportunity has enabled me to engage with presentations by pioneers in convergent-beam electron diffraction, 3D-ED/MicroED, offering invaluable insights into the beauty of diffraction across diverse disciplines.

The content of the school was so well organized. As a researcher in materials science, I not only enjoyed outstanding talks within my field but also had the chance to explore a new area of study. Despite my limited knowledge of MicroED, I learned and enjoyed a lot from the well-structured and comprehensive talks. I am sure that students and young researchers in the MicroED field would similarly find value in the discussions on convergent-beam electron diffraction.

The inclusion of hands-on workshops, focused on software packages, added a practical dimension that I found particularly enriching.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the organizers for their dedicated efforts in making this event a success. It is such a valuable experience in my career. I also wish to express my deep appreciation to the committee for the grant, which makes my attendance at this wonderful event possible.

Mostafa Eid Abdelmaboud Ahmed Ali, Monash University, Australia

The Electron Crystallography School (ECS), held between 19 and 21 August 2023 at Monash University, aimed to expand our knowledge of the electron crystallography area and provided us with a unique platform to explore it. The ECS covered a wide range of topics, providing attendees with both theoretical information through excellent lectures and practical skills through software demonstrations. For example, the lectures covered fundamental principles of electron crystallography techniques such as selected area electron diffraction (SAED), scanning electron nanodiffraction (SEND), scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), convergent-beam electron diffraction (CBED), quantitative convergent-beam electron diffraction (QCBED) and 4D-STEM.

Furthermore, the lectures and hands-on sessions (software demos) were presented by renowned experts and academics from top universities around the world, ensuring a thorough understanding of the subject matter. For example, Professor Jian-Min Zuo, a pioneer and brilliant in the field of electron crystallography, was among those present. I met him at the school, introduced myself and my proposal to him, and discussed some electron diffraction topics with him. This was very much appreciated.

My PhD research focuses on CBED and QCBED approaches, therefore I really learned a lot about the current issues and applications surrounding these methods, as well as the difficulties in gathering and interpreting electron diffraction data and ways to get over these obstacles. For instance, as one of the QCBED applications, I was interested in Professor Zuo's lecture “Direct observation of d-holes in Cu₂O” and Professor Philip Nakashima's session “Vacancy mapping in Al structure”.

Besides the mentioned benefits of attending ECS, I was very happy for the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) financial support, which helped me a lot to cover travel expenses. The primary impact of such grants lies in their ability to make educational opportunities and scientific events accessible to a diverse range of participants.

Weilun Li, Monash University, Australia

Overview

The Electron Crystallography School proved to be an enriching experience, offering a comprehensive understanding of advanced techniques in structural analysis using electron crystallography. Held at Monash, Melbourne, the school gathered a diverse group of researchers, scientists and students eager to delve into the intricacies of this cutting-edge field.

Programs and lectures

The school commenced with insightful lectures by eminent speakers who shared their expertise on the theoretical foundations of electron crystallography, its applications and recent advancements in the field. These lectures provided a solid foundation for participants, irrespective of their prior knowledge, ensuring that everyone could grasp the complexities of electron crystallography. The combination of CBED and 4D-STEM on the first day and 3D-ED and MicroED on the following day proved to be extremely effective.

Hands-on sessions

A highlight of the Electron Crystallography School was the demo lab sessions on the state-of-the-art TEM at Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy, Spectra-Phi, as well as data processing sessions on 4D-STEM and MicroED. Participants were guided through practical exercises using electron microscopes and image processing software. This hands-on experience was invaluable, allowing us to apply theoretical knowledge to real-world scenarios. The instructors were patient and skilled, providing personalized guidance to ensure that each participant could make the most of the practical sessions.

Meal/tea breaks

The school fostered a collaborative and engaging environment, facilitating interactions among participants, instructors and guest speakers. Networking sessions and group activities allowed attendees to exchange ideas, discuss challenges and explore potential collaborations. The diversity of backgrounds among participants enhanced the overall learning experience, providing a holistic perspective on the applications and challenges of electron crystallography in various scientific disciplines.

Poster sessions

The Electron Crystallography School also provided a platform for students and early-career researchers to showcase their research projects and findings. The poster sessions enabled attendees to gain deeper insights into the ongoing research in the field. This exposure to diverse projects and methodologies broadened our understanding of the potential applications of electron crystallography across different scientific domains.

Conclusions

The Electron Crystallography School was a comprehensive and well-organized program that delivered a profound learning experience. The combination of theoretical lectures, hands-on sessions, networking opportunities and exposure to cutting-edge research positioned participants to apply their new-found knowledge and skills in their respective fields. The school not only expanded our understanding of electron crystallography but also cultivated a sense of community among participants, fostering future collaborations and advancements in this dynamic field. I am confident that the knowledge gained at the Electron Crystallography School will significantly contribute to my research and academic endeavours.

Huyen Pham, Monash University, Australia

My name is Huyen Pham, a research fellow at the School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University, Australia. I am extremely grateful and excited to have been part of the community attending the Electron Crystallography School, particularly after the hard period of COVID-19 lockdown and travel restriction. As a dedicated researcher in the field of materials characterisation by electron microscopy, I am always hungry to approach and acquire more knowledge in this topic. Participating in this event gave me an opportunity not only to expand my personal network but also to learn more fundamental knowledge and catch up with up-to-date progress in electron crystallography from famous scientists around the world. The school was well organized with a series of lectures on a wide range of topics including the fundamental theory of convergent-beam electron diffraction (CBED), 4D scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM) and 3D electron diffraction (3D-ED) together with historical background, software demonstrations and hands-on tutorials. This experience will truly support my growth and passion to be a researcher in electron microscopy. I also would like to thank the IUCr for committing to give me an IUCr grant, which strongly supports my travel costs and other necessary expenses.

Sepideh Rahimi, University of Antwerp, Belgium

I'm writing to convey my heartfelt appreciation for the Young and Early Career Scientist Award I had the privilege of receiving from the IUCr during the Electron Crystallography School at Monash University. This recognition has played a crucial role in facilitating my participation in this educational program. Your support means a lot to me, and I'm sincerely grateful for it. The experiences I gained have been immensely enriching and have contributed to my professional and personal growth.

The school allowed me to deepen my knowledge of 4D-STEM and CBED, gave me insights about developing my in-situ liquid experiments and provided valuable comments and ideas from famous experts in the field. I also had the opportunity to establish connections and collaborate with peers and mentors from around the world.

In terms of personal development, the experience broadened my horizons and enhanced my intercultural skills. It was an unforgettable experience that will undoubtedly benefit my future endeavors.

I am profoundly grateful for the support the Young and Early Career Scientist Award provided, which made this transformative journey possible. I am committed to utilizing the knowledge and experiences gained during this trip to further advance my research and contribute to the scientific community.

Once again, thank you for believing in my potential and supporting my academic and professional pursuits. I am truly honored to be a recipient of this prestigious award.

Please convey my gratitude to the members of the selection committee and all those who make these awards possible. I look forward to the opportunity to share the outcomes of this experience with you shortly.

Alaa Shaikhqasem, Martin-Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany

I had the privilege to attend the Electron Crystallography School (ECS2023) which took place in August 2023 at the prestigious Monash University. My primary focus lies in 3D electron diffraction. The school presented a distinctive opportunity to connect with pioneering scientists who are actively shaping and sharing cutting-edge advancements in this field. Furthermore, this international event brought together participants from diverse backgrounds and experiences, creating a rich environment for exchanging ideas and establishing collaborations. The ECS2023 school provided me with an opportunity to present my work on 3D electron diffraction of protein crystals. Additionally, throughout the program, I acquired an extensive knowledge base in the field of electron diffraction, covering a wide range of topics including the following:

• Advances in methods development and application
• Sample preparation
• 3D electron diffraction data collection
• Data processing for small molecules and macromolecules
• Structure refinement and model validation.

How did the IUCr grant help?

Traveling from Germany posed financial challenges due to limited funds for travel, accommodation and expenses during my stay for the school. In this context, the IUCr grant proved to be a significant source of support, facilitating attendance and accommodation during the school.

I feel incredibly privileged to have been selected for the IUCr award, and I am grateful for the opportunity. I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to Professor Laure Bourgeois and Dr Hongyi Xu for organizing the school and for their exceptional support and guidance throughout the duration of the event.

Yu Zhang, Monash University, Australia

As a student specialising in electron crystallography, receiving the IUCr Young and Early Career Scientist Award to attend the Electron Crystallography School 2023 has been a truly transformative experience. It provided me with a unique platform to engage with preeminent experts in the field, leading to enriching discussions and invaluable learning opportunities.

The sessions were nothing short of illuminating, particularly in revealing the remarkable capabilities of 4D-STEM and MicroED/3D-ED techniques. I was captivated by the hands-on laboratory demonstrations of 4D-STEM data collection led by Matthew Weyland, as well as the insightful discussions on post-processing of 4D-STEM by Jian-Min Zuo and Bryan Esser, each employing different software platforms, showcasing the diverse approaches to 4D-STEM data processing.

Moreover, the demonstrations by Colin Ophus, Scott Findlay and Hamish Brown, demonstrating the simulation of 4D-STEM using Python, were exceptionally intriguing. The talks covering precession electron diffraction and MicroED/3D-ED further deepened my understanding of these cutting-edge topics, highlighting the transformative potential of these techniques in structure determination, and significantly enhancing my insights. The subsequent industry speeches provided me with a profound understanding of the current priorities of leading companies, which has inspired my future learning and research. In summary, this masterclass has offered me a broader perspective on electron crystallography, allowing me to venture beyond the confines of my own research domain. I am sincerely grateful to IUCr for affording me this remarkable opportunity to participate in ECS2023.

Cheng Zhao, Monash University, Australia

The electron crystallography school (ECS) was truly an unforgettable experience. It was the first time that I had met with academics and researchers that I had repeatedly read about in the literature and textbooks.

ECS was well organised from the very beginning to the end. The program included a variety of areas in electron microscopy/electron diffraction. As an electron microscopy student, I was amazed and inspired by the continuous exploration people had put into developing techniques and even building up their own equipment for certain experiments. I was also very interested in all the demonstrations on newly developed simulation techniques. The ‘new for me’ information on three-dimensional electron diffraction was also a very interesting aspect that I had never thought to be so useful before.

Another point that made this school so different was that it started with very fundamental knowledge with few information barriers that I’m sure helped a lot of students who were not very familiar with electron crystallography.

Some of the most inspiring mentality that I learned was to always have faith in yourself (research-wise) and not be discouraged by other people’s words. On the other hand, one should have an open heart to the work of others and try your best to appreciate their work rather than doubting it.

This grant was of great help in covering my travel expenses. I am sincerely thankful to the selection committee.

Yi Zhou, ShanghaiTech University, China

This was my first time in attending such an overseas international conference. I had a fantastic experience at ECS2023, because of not only the thrilling lectures on both fundamental and cutting-edge science and technology about convergent-beam electron diffraction (CBED), four-dimensional scanning electron microscopy (4D-STEM) and three-dimensional electron diffraction (3D-ED) but also the chance to discuss face to face with pioneers and talented young scientists from all around the world in these fields.

During the school, I was very impressed by the quantitative analysis of CBED data by Professor Jian-Min Zuo from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and Professor Philip Nakashima from Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy (MCEM). The unit cell, symmetry, sample thickness, atom positions and even orbitals can be analyzed. There were also a lot of lectures that showed us many useful software packages for processing 4D-STEM data with the speakers giving detailed instructions on how to use the software. Although I don’t work on this field, it still inspired me a lot. Lectures on 3D-ED and kinematical and dynamical structure refinement taught me a lot, which will benefit my experiments very much.

I was very honored to give a poster presentation on the evening of the first day of this electron crystallography school to present my up-to-date work about locating the guest species on metal–organic frameworks by 3D-ED. Several other talented young peers also presented their beautiful work, covering different materials and various techniques. It’s really good to know what others are doing and communicate with them.

Finally, I would like to say thanks to the organizers, Professor Laure Bourgeois and Hongyi Xu, for providing me with such a good platform to learn from others and promote myself. At the end of this school, I was awarded an “IUCr Young and Early Career Scientist Award”. This IUCr grant not only provided me with financial support but also gave me a lot of motivation. This is a kind of recognition for my previous research and encouragement for my future career. 

The 18th triennial meeting of the Small Angle Scattering conference (SAS2022) was held at the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS), part of the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM). In-person participants were hosted at the Royal Palm Hall Convention Center in Campinas-SP, from 11 to 16 September 2022. COVID restrictions that led to the delay in the 26th Congress and General Assembly of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) from 2020 to 2021 meant that this conference also was delayed by one year, and its traditional format (in-person only) was modified to support remote attendance and presentations.

The triennial SAS meeting is a major event for the international small-angle scattering community, consistently attracting hundreds of attendees from around the world [see Trewhella (2021)]. Overall, 327 participants from around the globe participated in the SAS2022 meeting, with 177 in person and 150 remote attendees. The five-day conference included 165 oral presentations, with seven plenaries plus one plenary talk given by the recipient of the 2022 Guinier Prize, Professor Jill Trewhella (https://www.iucr.org/resources/commissions/small-angle-scattering/guinier-prize). The conference Chair was Florian Meneau from the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS). Members of the Scientific Program Committee included Aldo Craievich, Carla Polo, Celso Santilli, Cristiano Oliveira, Izabel Riegel-Vidotti, Karim Dahmouche, Mario Murakami, Mateus Cardoso, Nadya Pesce da Silveira, Renata Kaminski, Rosiane Lopes da Cunha, Watson Loh and Yraima Cordeiro. The conference program covered the field of small-angle scattering from technique development to fundamental research in materials and biology, ranging from the design and characterization of hard and soft materials to medical- and bio-technology applications. Detailed information about SAS2022, plenary sessions, a list of abstracts, videos and other details can be found at the conference web site, https://pages.cnpem.br/sas2022/.

The location of the SAS2022 conference was selected at the SAS2015 meeting in Berlin, with a major attraction being co-location with one of the first fourth-generation synchrotrons, Sirius, which recently came online in Brazil. These fourth-generation synchrotron sources, currently coming online across the globe, offer a generational upgrade in synchrotron beam qualities, such as coherence and collimation. In addition to the improved beam qualities, these sources offer increased brightness and tunability, allowing researchers to tailor the energy and wavelength of the synchrotron radiation to suit their specific experimental needs. The enhanced collimation of the synchrotron beams allows for better control of the beam size and divergence, resulting in higher resolution and improved signal-to-noise ratio. These features enable the development of a new generation of small-angle scattering instruments, which will offer new capabilities for scientific research and development with enhanced performance for studying the structure and dynamics of materials from the nanoscale to microscale levels.

The scientific publishing landscape has evolved considerably in recent years, with the growing opportunities – and often requirements – of open-access publications. Open access has the advantage of research results being freely available to the scientific communities and leads to higher visibility and citations of the published works. Since 2012, the organizers of SAS meetings have organized the publication of special issues in Journal of Applied Crystallography to highlight the work presented at the meeting. The SAS2015 special issue enjoyed generous support for open access from the IUCr, and this tradition is continuing with SAS2022.

The 19 articles composing this SAS2022 special issue (https://journals.iucr.org/special_issues/2023/sas2022/) were carefully selected and represent the wide variety of topics from the meeting. The submitted manuscripts were subjected to the same rigorous review process as regular articles submitted to Journal of Applied Crystallography, guaranteeing high quality. The articles have been published in recent regular issues (mostly in Journal of Applied Crystallography with an additional article in Acta Crystallographica Section D) and are now combined to constitute the SAS2022 virtual special issue which highlights some of the most exciting work presented at the meeting. We are very grateful to all the authors and reviewers for their efforts that have made this high-quality special issue possible. With the rigorous selection process applied, we trust that this special issue and the 19 selected articles will provide a valuable reference for the current state-of-the-art small-angle scattering research for many years to come.

Critical to the success of our small-angle scattering community – and of any SAS conference – are sponsors and exhibitors who contribute generously to the conference program, social events and financial success. Major supporters of any SAS conference are always local grant agencies – for SAS2022 these were the Brazilian funding agencies FAPESP (2022/054006), CAPES and CNPq. Traditional and reliable community support was provided by the IUCr via travel awards (Young and Early Career Scientists Awards) and funding of the Guinier Prize. And for industrial support, despite the significant challenges of COVID travel disruptions and the hybrid conference model, our sponsors and exhibitors came in force and wholeheartedly supported our community. Their participation and sponsorship are further evidence of the health of our small-angle scattering community. While our supporters are too many to list here, we would especially like to thank our Gold sponsors: Xenocs, AVS and Anton Paar.

No conference can succeed without the tireless work of a strong local organizing committee and support staff. The necessary late decision to have SAS2022 offer hybrid participation added considerably to the burden on the local support staff, and the flawless execution has been remarked upon by many appreciative participants. We wish to deeply thank the CNPEM communication group and the Cateretê team, in particular Dora Maria Marques, Ariane de Freitas Almeida, Priscila Cassiano Alves and Murilo Silva de Oliveira.

The next triennial SAS conferences, SAS2024 and SAS2027, will be held in Taiwan and Sweden, respectively. We wish the organizers of these meetings the very best for their respective conferences.

Acknowledgements

We thank Charles S. Bond, University of Western Australia, for editing the article that originally appeared in Acta Crystallographica Section D. We also thank everyone at the IUCr Editorial Office for their kind support in the preparation of this special issue. We gratefully acknowledge the generous support provided by the IUCr through travel scholarship support for the SAS2022 conference.

References

Trewhella, J. (2021). J. Appl. Cryst. 54, 1029–1033.

This article was originally published in J. Appl. Cryst. (2023). 56, 1616–1617.

The IUCr Congress this summer was a great success, with attendees coming from across the world. Bringing schoolchildren into the heart of a scientific congress such as this was brilliant. In this issue of the IUCr Newsletter, Stuart Batten, Helen Maynard-Casely, Rosemary Young, Emily Furlong and Bryce Mullens describe this aspect of the IUCr Congress entitled Crystal-a-con. We are indeed fortunate that crystallography and crystal structures can be made to look so attractive and interesting to excite the interest of young people.

The science of crystallography has a long history, but it is only within the last 400 years or so that our understanding of crystals and their atomic structures has “crystallised”, so to speak. The study of crystallography turns out to have been conducted by many scientists well known for their research into other scientific disciplines. So, for example, Johannes Kepler, famous for his theory of planetary motions, also became interested in the symmetry of snowflakes and also in the close packing of spheres to explain morphology. Then again, Robert Hooke, famous for his Law, among other things, also tried to explain crystal morphology using the packing of spheres (see Fig. 1). So, the principle of periodicity in crystals was the subject of interest for many scientists in the past. One of my scientific heroes, Louis Pasteur, better known for his work on microbes, also started off as a crystallographer with his study of optical activity in tartrate crystals. So, now I see that even John Dalton, whom we all know for his theories on gases and atoms, also had crystallographic leanings. I never knew that, did you? Well, in a feature article, Istvan and Magdolna Hargittai reveal all about this aspect of Dalton’s life.

One of the problems facing crystallographic publications is how to evaluate the correctness of a particular submitted crystal structure. So, it is incumbent on all referees and journal editors to ensure that at least the proposed structure makes chemical sense. In my experience, there are two or three cases that need attention. Sometimes, it is a matter of fraud. For example, recently, I refereed a paper in which it became evident that the authors had merely copied the coordinates from a much earlier Rietveld refinement published by other scientists and used them with the atom labels changed to match those in their own compound of interest. Then, you have cases of scientific misunderstanding. I am reminded that several years ago, I came close to failing a PhD student during his viva voce examination (something that I had never done before) over his quoting of errors in pressure measurements to 7 figures of decimals! Even after explaining that you cannot simply copy out the results of a computer calculation like that, and after he tried to argue that the computer results are correct, he finally agreed to change the errors in his thesis to single figures of decimals, but he did so with exceedingly bad grace. I don’t think he ever really understood my objection despite nearly an hour of trying to explain to him the significance of errors.

The article on mythical compounds highlights problems with structure validation. It is all too easy to collect some data and refine it to apparently good agreement but arrive at a nonsensical crystal structure arrangement. A personal example of this was when I had a paper to referee in which the authors claimed to have carried out a Rietveld refinement on both X-ray and neutron powder data and to have obtained very low, so-called R factors. However, they did not give the actual refined atomic coordinates in a table. When they finally revised the paper, I saw that their X-ray and neutron coordinates bore no resemblance to each other. On plotting out their structures, it became obvious that the refined structures made no sense at all! Perhaps an extreme example of mythical compounds has been in the recent publication in Nature of the use of generative AI to predict the existence of hundreds and thousands of new crystal structures. Unfortunately, as pointed out in the Twittersphere (or is it X-sphere?) by Robert Palgrave, examination of the structures reveals that many seem to make no chemical sense at all nor provide powder diffraction patterns that match the experimental measurements! Computers, eh?

Sadly, as usual, we have to report the deaths of two of our distinguished colleagues, Bob Blessing (USA) and Henk Schenk (Netherlands). Both were well known for their scientific research and their services to the crystallography community. I remember many happy discussions with Henk on the crystallography of chocolate, which turns out to be the most essential factor in determining its taste and texture. Crystallography appears everywhere!

Robert (Bob) Harry Blessing, a chemistry professor at the University at Buffalo (UB), NY, USA, and an emeritus senior research scientist at Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute (HWI), died on 30 October 2023 at the age of 82. Considered a leader in the field of high-resolution experimental crystallography for electron density modeling, he collaborated on numerous research papers and spoke at many national and international conferences.

Born in Wilkes-Barre, PA, he graduated in 1962 from King’s College in Wilkes-Barre. After completing a PhD in inorganic and physical chemistry at Ohio University in 1970, he held postdoctoral positions at the University of Lund, Sweden; the University of Pittsburgh; and UB. After four years as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Mercyhurst College in Erie, PA, he moved to Buffalo in 1978 to become a Research Scientist at HWI, formerly the Medical Foundation of Buffalo. There, he worked with emeritus researcher Dr G. David Smith on the crystal structure of insulin. He also developed algorithms and software for crystallographic data reduction and error analysis that are widely used in laboratories worldwide. He co-authored publications with Smith and 1985 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner Herbert Hauptman.

In good voice. From left to right, Wilson Greatbatch, Herbert Hauptman, Bob Blessing and Lodovico Riva di Sanseverino sing at the 75th birthday celebration for Nobel laureates Herbert Hauptman and Jerome Karle in Buffalo in 1992. Photo contributed to the IUCr gallery by W. L. Duax.

Dr Blessing continued his work at HWI after he was appointed an Associate Professor of Chemistry at UB in 1991. He was promoted to Full Professor in 2001, and during that same year helped design the graduate studies program for the Department of Structural Biology in UB’s Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. He later served as the Department’s Director of Graduate Studies and Chair.

On four occasions, he was a visiting professor in the crystallography laboratory at the Université Henri Poincaré, now Université de Lorraine, in Nancy, France, where he had a long collaboration with Claude Lecomte, Professor of Crystallography and Physics.

He was President of the Pittsburgh Diffraction Society and an active member of the American Crystallographic Association.

From left to right, Akihito Yamono, Tony Linden, Bob Blessing, Ludger Häming, Ton Spek, David Watkin and Larry Falvello, speakers at the Microsymposium on Absorption Corrections at the 18th IUCr Congress in Glasgow, UK, in 1999.

Dr Blessing is survived by his wife of 61 years, Barbara Ann; a daughter, Kimberly Blessing, a philosophy professor at Buffalo State University, and son-in-law, Tim Bohen; and two grandsons. Another daughter, Kirsten Blessing-Hanagan, a nurse in the neo-natal intensive care unit at the former Women and Children’s Hospital, died in 2006.

For a list of papers by Dr Blessing appearing in IUCr journals click here.