[Jonathan Agbenyega]

IUCr Crystallites blog

February 2017 saw the launch of the new IUCr blog, IUCr Crystallites (http://blogs.iucr.org/crystallites). The blog features news and opinion in crystallography and related disciplines. It is our opportunity to bring you, in an easily digestible format, a snapshot of the rich variety of research, experts and resources available to researchers in the field, and let you know how work in this area is enabling others and having an effect on society.

Even though the IUCr is a relatively small Union, we support many good causes. In 2016 alone we provided travel bursaries to allow students and young scientists to attend 40 conferences and workshops spread over 25 countries. We also provided grants to more than 20 professors to travel to developing regions so they could help students, research groups and institutions develop capacity in crystallography. Because of this fantastic commitment to our community and your tireless support of our work, we are now witnessing an unprecedented number of new countries seeking membership of the Union during the 2017 IUCr Congress and General Assembly. You'll see news about our outreach and capacity-building activities in the blog, so please bookmark http://blogs.iucr.org/crystallites and share any comments you may have about our work on the site.

Our blog will feature selected IUCr journal papers shortened into easy-to-read summaries for you to catch up on before reading the underlying article more leisurely. These summaries will also appear on other news and information sites across the web such as EurekAlert! run by AAAS, so do look out for us during your browsing.

I hope you have heard about our new IUCr Associates Programme (www.iucr.org/people/associates). This is a new venture for us, which will bring you closer to our journals and charitable work; we know you will enjoy being part of this exciting initiative. Associates' thoughts and views will be shared through IUCr Crystallites, improving our reach and relevance in the wider community. To register your interest and to ensure you are in line for a 20% discount on registration, please fill in your details at http://www.iucr.org/people/associates/congress-special-offer. We look forward to welcoming you.

We hope you enjoy IUCr Crystallites and await your comments.

Jonathan Agbenyega, IUCr Business Development Manager (ja@iucr.org)