ACA/IUCr Fund for FSU Crystallographers

In the fall of 1992 the American Crystallographic Association and the US National Committee for Crystallography established a fund for research support for crystallographers in countries that made up the former Soviet Union (FSU). The Sloan Foundation awarded a grant of $25,000 in matching funds to support the project.

As of August 1, 1994, a total of $23,998 has been donated to the fund primarily from the members of the American Crystallographic Association. On May 23, 1993, a subcommittee appointed by Robert Bryan, the Chairman of the US National Committee for Crystallography and headed by W. L. Duax, reviewed over 60 applications from crystallographers in 18 leading universities and research facilities in the FSU, and elected 40 grants for immediate award of $500 each.

Subsequent to the announcement in the IUCr Newsletter (Vol. 1, No.3) of the names and addresses of the 40 individuals who received the first round of awards, an additional 117 applications for support were received from crystallographers in 33 universities and institutions of the Academies of Sciences in Russia, the Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Moldovia, and Azerbaijan. A committee composed of Jon Clardy, George Ferguson, Judith Gallucci, Jennifer Rotonda, and William Watt has reviewed and ranked the new applications. On the basis of the combined rankings, 58 candidates have been selected for awards. Those selected for support will be notified and asked to propose the most cost effective way to transfer the award to them.

In a related effort, the ACA applied for and received a Conference Travel Grant from the International Science Foundation allowing 18 crystallographers from countries of the FSU to attend the ACA meeting in Atlanta, June 25-30, 1994. The awardees from 13 different institutions were selected from 37 applicants. The primary criteria for selection was the importance of the scientific contribution described in their abstract. Important areas of crystallography in which FSU scientists excel and ACA meetings have tended to be under-represented were given special consideration.