9th European Crystallography School (ECS9)

The ECS9 was held in Nancy (France), 24th–30th June 2024, at the site of the Faculté des Sciences et Technologies of Université de Lorraine, as an in-presence event. In this edition, the school targeted the improvement of crystallographic skills for young scientists (PhDs, postdocs, Masters students) working in different fields (chemistry, physics, material science). The lectures and practical sessions covered all aspects from basic structure analysis to understanding of chemical bonds, bonding interactions and structure-properties relationships in materials, with a focus on single crystal X-ray diffraction and structure analysis. Consequently, the program was organized in the following 5 main scientific sections, with lectures on the fundamentals in the morning and practical sessions with applications and tutorials in the afternoon:

    (i) An introduction to X-ray diffraction (XRD) theory.
    (ii) Structure determination and analysis.
    (iii) Packing and interaction analyses.
    (iv) Using aspherical models of the electron density distribution.
    (v) Crystallography under constraints.

The 18 speakers (9 international, 9 local) plus 3 sponsors (industrials) gave 8 fundamental lectures and 7 practical sessions during which at least 2 tutors were present for guiding and helping the participants. In order to guarantee a reasonable tutor-to-participant ratio, especially for the practical sessions, our laboratory of crystallography (CRM2) was heavily involved with 9 speakers/tutors. Most of the lecturers were present and available for the participants during the whole week, enabling further specific discussions and informal exchanges between lecturers and attendees, during and after presentations. Additionally, coffee breaks and 2 poster sessions helped significantly to develop discussions.

This school brought together a total of 62 (30 F, 32 M) participants of 25 different nationalities, coming from laboratories of 22 countries.

Lecture (top) and practical sessions with hands-on structure solution and refinement (bottom).

Thanks to industrial (STOE, Rigaku, Bruker, Dectris, Cristal Laser) and public sponsors (Region Grand Est, Metropole of Nancy, City of Villers-les-Nancy) as well as local support of the Université de Lorraine, registration fees could be proposed at very low rates (350 € for PhDs and postdocs, and 450 € for other people). Registration fees covered participation in courses and materials used, overnight stays, lunches and coffee breaks during the school, as well as the gala dinner and excursion. As a consequence, the school attracted a lot of interest and the 50 available places (constrained by the capacity of the computer room for the practical sessions) were sold out one month before the inscription deadline. In order to enable a maximum of interested young scientists to participate, we accepted a total of 62 inscriptions (out of a total of 78 pre-registrations recorded at the closing date of inscriptions).

Thanks to the support of IUCr, ECA and the French Crystallographic Association (AFC), we could offer 17 bursaries/travel grants for a total of 8784 €. The 17 laureates of the bursary came from 14 countries from Europe, Central Asia, South Africa, North Africa and South America. Additionally, we waived the fee for 2 students, and 2 Italian students were directly supported by the Italian Crystallographic Association (AIC). Finally, 2 poster prizes of 100 £ and 100 € were awarded during the school, sponsored by the CCDC and CRM2, respectively.

Group photo before the school dinner at the Château Mme de Graffigny.