The XVII Congress update

The XVII Congress and General Assembly of the International Union of Crystallography will be held in Seattle, Washington, USA, August 8-17, 1996. The Congress has the endorsement of the US National Academy of Sciences, the National Research Council and is sponsored, in part, by the American Crystallographic Association. The support of a growing list of commercial sponsors is greatly appreciated as it will make it possible to enhance the quality of the scientific program. Information about the Congress venue and program and four satellite meetings (Powder Diffraction, Synchrotron Radiation, Computing School and Neutron Scattering) appears in Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 5-9 and Vol. 2, No. 4, p. 16 of the IUCr Newsletter and can also be found on the ACA home page on WWW at URL: http://www.hwi.buffalo.edu/ACA

Call for papers - November 1995

The Call for Papers will be either included in or posted with Vol. 3, No. 4 of the IUCr Newsletter in November 1995 and placed on the ACA home page of the WWW. The deadline for abstract submission will be February 1, 1996.

Topics and categories

The list of  Congress program categories and topics that appeared in the Vol. 2, No. 3 IUCr Newsletter was essentially the same as the list from the Beijing meeting. An ad hoc subcommittee of the US National Committee for Crystallography, chaired by D. Cox, has proposed a significant revision to the structure of the list of categories and topics that will impact upon the Congress format and content. The new list of categories and topics appears in Table 1. Principal revisions concern aspects of the program dealing with material science and applied crystallography. As formulated in Table 1, the organization of category 10 parallels that of topic 3, Crystallography of Biological Macromolecules. The new category 10 outlines major areas of application that will help better define the program.

In order to more effectively implement this revision of the program, IUCr President Philip Coppens has authorized the appointment of two additional members to the Program Committee for the Congress, Dave Cox and James Jorgensen, members of the USNCCr subcommittee that proposed the revisions.

David. E Cox
Physics Dept. 510B, Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY 11973-5000, USA. Tel.: 516-282-3818, FAX: 516-282-2739. e-mail: cox@bnlx7a.nsls.bnl.gov

James D. Jorgensen
Matls Science Div., Bldg. 223, Argonne National Lab., Argonne IL 60439, USA. Tel.: 708-252-5513, FAX: 708-252-7777. e-mail:jorgensen@anlpns

The full list of Program Committee members appears in Vol. 2, No.3 of the IUCr Newsletter.

May 10, 1995 - proposal deadline

A schedule of important dates appears in Table 2. Of immediate relevance is the May 10, 1995 deadline for receipt of suggestions from YOU for plenary lectures, sessions, topics, chairs, and speakers. This is your opportunity to shape the program to see to it that areas of crystallography you consider most important receive the attention you think they deserve. Address your suggestions to any member of the Program Committee with a copy to the Program Committee Chairman, W. L. Duax, who is charged with the responsibility to collate all suggestions and distribute them to all members of the Committee for the purpose of deliberation, debate, discussion, and final decision.

Plenary lectures

In order to highlight the many exciting new advances in theory, instrumentation, and applications of X-ray, neutron, and electron diffraction that have occurred since the last IUCr Congress, there will be at least ten plenary lectures presented at the 1996 meeting in Seattle. Topics and speakers will be chosen from the suggestions now being received by program committee members. The final selection will be made early in 1995. There are certain to be plenary lectures on rational drug design based upon macromolecular crystallography, structural and physical properties of advanced materials, and new advances from synchrotron, neutron, and electron diffraction.

Visas

The IUCr meeting will be held in accordance with the principle of the universality of science upheld by the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU). This principle entails freedom of association, expression, information, communication, and movement in connection with international scientific activities, without any discrimination on the basis of such factors as  citizenship, religion, creed, political stance, ethnic origin, race, color, language, age, or sex.

Seattle is surrounded by beautiful countryside, mountains, and streams. (Photo WLD)

Please contact the US embassy or consulate in your country early to determine if you will need a visa. You will probably need a business visa rather than a tourist visa. If you intend to visit countries other than the USA during your trip, attach an itinerary with your visa application. For instance, if you plan to visit Canada in the course of your travel, you will need to get a multiple entry visa. The Congress announcement will be sufficient invitation in most cases. However, if you encounter visa difficulties or you are told you need a personalized letter of invitation to accompany your visa, request it before January 31, 1996 from the Congress's organizing committee by contacting J. L. Flippen-Anderson, Code 6030, Naval Research Lab., Washington, D. C., USA (flippen@roentgen.nrl.navy.mil).

The organizing committee is composed of R. Bryan (Chair), W.L. Duax, D. Duchamp, D. Eggleston, J. Flippen-Anderson, S. N. Rao and R. Stenkamp.

Table 1. Revised Congress Program Categories and Topics

Table 2. Timetable for Matters Related to the Program