III International School of Crystallography: X-Ray Powder Diffraction

During the second week of November of 2025, the III International School of Crystallography: X-Ray Powder Diffraction (III EICr-Ibagué 2025) took place at Universidad del Tolima (UTolima), in Ibagué, Colombia. This school was the third annual school organized by Crystallographers from Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. The first school, centered around Powder Diffraction, was initially intended to be a Colombian-Venezuelan School of Crystallography and part of a joint graduate program of three universities in Colombia's coffee-growing region: the University of Caldas, the Technological University of Pereira, and the University of Quindío. After some consideration, it was decided to take the opportunity of opening the school to undergraduate and graduate students from other regions of Colombia and Ecuador, the other neighboring country. The second school took place in Bucaramanga, Colombia, and centered on Single Crystal Diffraction, taking advantage of the superb facilities of the X-Ray Laboratory of Universidad Industrial de Santander. 

These schools are taught at the fundamental to intermediate level since there are no undergraduate courses on Crystallography in our universities. The topics covered in this school included Symmetry in Crystals and the International Tables for Crystallography, the Diffraction Phenomena, Fundamentals of X-Ray Powder Diffraction and Data Collection, Use of the PDF-5+ and the CSD databases, Indexing and Whole Powder Pattern Fitting, Structure Determination and Refinement using XRPD Data, the Rietveld method, Crystallochemical Analysis, Structure Validation and Analysis, Preparation of cif files and Publication of Results (with emphasis on IUCr journals). Practical sessions on data collection and phase-ID analysis were carried out using the Rigaku MiniFlex Diffractometer of Facultad de Ciencias of UTolima, the host institution. 

The Instructors were Tom Blanton (ICDD, USA, via internet), Miguel Delgado (Universidad de Los Andes, Venezuela), Graciela Díaz de Delgado (Universidad de Los Andes, Venezuela), Analio Dugarte (Universidad de Los Andes, Venezuela), Betina María Cecilia Faroldi (Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Argentina), Yury Paola García (Universidad Nacional de Colombia-Manizales, Colombia), José Antonio Henao (Universidad Industrial de Santander, Colombia), Diego Lamas (Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Argentina, via internet), and Robert Toro (Universidad Industrial de Santander, Colombia).  

The support for the students provided by IUCr and ICDD allowed the participation of 21 out of the 40 students who attended the school. This kind support was highly appreciated. 

The local organizing committee formed by Faculty members of the Chemistry Department of UTolima, Professors César Augusto Jaramillo Páez, Ximena Carolina Pulido Villamil, Luis Fernando Rodríguez Herrera, and Leonardo Duván Restrepo Alape did a superb job. 

The next school that was initially planned to be held next year at Universidad de Los Andes, in Bogotá, Colombia, centered on Single Crystal Diffraction was postponed until 2027, after receiving a request from Professor Jorge Efrén Silva Yumi of Escuela Superior Politécnica del Chimborazo (ESPOCH), Riobamba, Ecuador, to have the school on Powder Diffraction after the installation of a Powder Diffractometer at ESPOCH. This school will also be the satellite meeting of the IV International Chemistry Congress of Ecuador which will take place in Riobamba during the last week of October 2026. The organizing committee for the IV School on Crystallography will submit an application for support from the IUCr.