ICQ16 showcases global advances in quasicrystal research

The 16th International Conference on Quasicrystals (ICQ16) was held in Nancy, France, from June 22nd to 27th, 2025. This is one of a series following the 1st workshop in Les Houches, France; the 2nd in Beijing, China; the 3rd Meeting in Vista-Hermosa, Mexico; the 4th Conference in St Louis, USA; the 5th in Avignon, France; the 6th in Tokyo, Japan; the 7th in Stuttgart, Germany; the 8th in Bangalore, India; the 9th in Ames, USA; the 10th in Zürich, Switzerland; the 11th in Sapporo, Japan; the 12th in Cracow, Poland; the 13th in Kathmandu, Nepal; the 14th in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia; and the 15th in Tel-Aviv, Israel.

ICQ16 covered a wide range of topics on quasicrystals, including:

• Formation, growth and phase stability
• Structure and modeling
• Mathematics of quasiperiodic and aperiodic structures
• Physical properties: transport, magnetic, dynamical, mechanical etc.
• Surfaces and overlayers, reactivity, catalysis
• New Frontiers, strongly correlated electron systems, quantum materials
• Related topics: incommensurate/modulated structures, metallic glass, high entropy alloys, complex metallic alloys, cage compounds, clusters etc.
• Metamaterials: polymer, macro molecules, photonic/phononic crystals, oxide etc.
• Applications

The conference (https://icq16-conference.com/) offered an excellent opportunity for researchers working on quasicrystals and related topics to discuss emerging research, exchange ideas, establish dialogues and encourage active collaborations with other research groups, hence promoting material science and engineering. It brought together the best scientists in the world who made a major contribution to recent developments in this field.

ICQ16 was attended by 85 participants from 18 countries. There were 15 scientific sessions, 15 invited talks, 37 contributed talks, as well as 2 poster sessions. The conference was truly interdisciplinary - comprising theoretical and experimental physicists, mathematicians, chemists and materials scientists.

The 2025 Jean-Marie Dubois Award for Excellence in Quasicrystal Research was attributed to Ryuji Tamura, Professor at Tokyo University of Science, Japan. The Jean-Marie Dubois Award was established to recognize important sustained research on any aspect of quasicrystals in the last 10-year period preceding the award. Professor Ryuji Tamura received this award in recognition of his outstanding achievements in establishing the long-range magnetic orderings in periodic approximants and quasicrystals, with the recent discovery of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic orders in Tsai-type icosahedral quasicrystals.

In addition, the support from the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) permitted 7 travel grants to be attributed to young scientists. We also gratefully acknowledge the financial supports from the European Integrated Center for the Development of New Metallic Alloys and Compounds (ECMetAC), the Université de Lorraine, the Métropole du Grand Nancy, Edwards Company and Vinci Technologies.

The next International Conference on Quasicrystals (ICQ17) will be held in Sendai, Japan, in 2028.