Commission on High Pressure

Report for 2006 of the IUCr Commission on High Pressure

Crystallography at high pressure remains a technical and scientific challenge. Yet the demand of exploring structural properties of material at non-ambient pressure conditions is growing both in quantity and quality. More groups across the full spectrum of physical- chemical and material-sciences (including Earth materials) try to obtain crystallographic data at more and more extreme conditions of pressure and often also temperature.

The mission of the IUCr commission on high pressure is to provide platforms which help disseminating and exchanging new techniques, ideas and scientific achievements in this field. The main tool for this goal are annual workshops, which are organized in different places across the world.

The International Workshop on Crystallography at High Pressure 2006 followed the sequence of workshops organized on behalf of the IUCr Commission on High Pressure and also the sequence of meetings on Neutron Scattering at High Pressure organized by the FLNP JINR (NSHP-I in 1994 and NSHP-II in 1999, Dubna, Russia). It was organized at the Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics and Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia from September 28 through October 1, 2006. The organization was coordinated by Denis P. Kozlenko. Igor Goncharenko served as the liaison to the commission.

The Workshop attracted nearly 80 scientists from 10 countries. Its scientific program contained 10 oral sessions and 2 poster sessions, covering the full range of scientific activities of the Commission on High Pressure. During the guided excursion to the IBR-2 high flux pulsed reactor facility, participants were able to familiarize themselves with capabilities for neutron scattering investigations under high pressure, available at FLNP JINR.

The 2007 workshop was recently (September 3rd – September 7th, 2007) held at Wadham College in Oxford, UK. Commission Secretary John Loveday acted as the local organizer. This workshop was again a big success. 85 participants gathered in a historic music pavilion to follow 11 oral sessions and poster presentations. The workshop was finished with a tour through the new synchrotron facility (Diamond) and the highly successful ISIS neutron spallation source at Ruherford Appleton Laboratory.

For the 2008 IUCr general congress, commission member Nom Hamaya has been selected to represent the commission in the program committee. The commission was able to have 6 microsymposia and 2 keynote lectures approved by the program committee. Chairpersons have been selected and invited.

In 2009, commission consultant Przemek Dera is organizing a summer school on high-pressure crystallography in Erice. The school is scheduled to take place June 4 through June 14 2009 in Erice, Sicily. This as a follow up on the very successful summer school organized in 2003.
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