Women in Crystallography project

Women in Crystallography fundraising project – first awardees announced

The “Women in Crystallography” project, an initiative of the ECA General Interest Group on Education in Crystallography (GIG-03), aims to improve the participation of women, especially young scientists, at events around the world and to create a balanced attendance among participants and speakers.

Funds are raised via donations for limited-edition T shirts, first seen at the launch of the project at ECM31 in Oviedo, Spain in 2018, and then making an appearance at ECM33 in Versailles, France in 2022; down under at the IUCr Congress in Melbourne, Australia in 2023; and across the Atlantic at ACA2024 in Denver, CO, USA in 2024. For the history of the logo, see here.

The first awardees are already benefiting from this fund to attend different crystallographic events:

Lamis Elaa Eldin Refat, from Ireland, attended the 15th International Workshop on Crystal Growth of Organic Materials in Phuket, Thailand in July 2024

Anara Omarova, from Kazakhstan, attended the 9th European Crystallography School in Nancy, France in June 2024

Almudena Inchausti Valles, from Spain, took part in the 2nd High-Pressure Single-Crystal X-Ray Diffraction Summer School in Edinburgh, UK in July 2024

Laura Pacoste, from Sweden, will join ECM34 in Padova, Italy in August 2024.

The fundraising for this project will continue at ECM34, where the 2024 edition of the T shirt will be available from the ECA booth as well as those of co-supporters Dectris, the IUCr and STOE. The promoters of the initiative have created the hashtag #Womenincrystallography to share on X (Twitter).

First video in the “Women in Crystallography” series

GIG-03 has also announced the release of the first video of the project supported by the Royal Society of Chemistry Inclusion and Diversity Fund. The project’s scope is to celebrate the importance of women in the field of crystallography and science while raising awareness about the pitfalls and obstacles on the way to reach gender parity in science, eliminate stereotypes, increase sensitivity and facilitate equal treatment of everyone at all stages of a scientific career. The speaker is Professor Shanti Deemyad from the Department of Physics & Astronomy of the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA: “Journey Through the Quantum Realm: My Path as a High-Pressure Physicist”.

Watch the video on the ECA YouTube channel here.