Periodic order is the sine qua non of crystallography. Yet sometimes it is the departure from order that is crucial for material function. Proteins, frustrated magnets, photovoltaics, battery materials, high-temperature superconductors â€" there are many examples of important systems where disorder of one sort or another plays a pivotal role. Crystallographically, the signature of disorder is the existence of a diffuse component to the scattering function, usually orders of magnitude weaker than the conventional Bragg scattering. The advent of intense radiation sources, the development of revolutionary detector technologies, and the ready availability of high-performance computing have collectively transformed our ability to measure and interpret diffuse scattering from disordered crystals.

This course will cover the background necessary to measure and interpret diffuse scattering from disordered crystals. Its contents span the theory of diffraction and diffuse scattering, the practicalities of its measurement, and the many different approaches taken to its interpretation. The programme is loosely split into two strands â€" one with a focus on materials chemistry and physics and the other concerned mostly with protein dynamics. Collectively, the course will cover the various origins of diffuse scattering (e.g. dynamics, compositional/displacive disorder, magnetic disorder), and its form in both single-crystal and powder samples.

Subjecting matter to extreme conditions reveals a multitude of fascinating phenomena, and is applicable to a wide range of disciplines. From the extremophiles that exist in the deepest depths of our oceans to the exotic new materials that are made when atoms are pushed ever closer together, understanding the structure of materials at extreme conditions affects Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geoscience and Material Science. In order to achieve its goals, high pressure research has been always at the vanguard of technical progress. It is a discipline in which equipment plays a particularly important role. State-of-the-art diamond anvil cells can now achieve megabar ranges of pressure, millions of times atmospheric pressure, with this beaten by an order of magnitude in dynamic compression experiments. In this manner, scientists are able to mimic the conditions in the interiors of giant planets. Nature is even more ambitious, as in the stars petapascal pressures (the order of tens to hundreds billion atmospheres) are reached. In the laboratory, we can even create conditions of pressure, temperature and magnetic fields that are not found naturally, allowing us to complement nature to explore more exotic phases of matter.

Therefore, the course will cover broad ground in the application of extreme conditions crystallography. The topics will span from fundamentals of high-pressure single crystal and powder diffraction, to presenting the many flavors of static and dynamic compression, to reviews of sources for extreme conditions work (synchrotrons, neutrons and free electron lasers). Complementary experimental (Mössbauer spectroscopy, X-ray magnetic circular dichroism, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, inelastic scattering) and computational methods will also be discussed. Diffraction analysis on the structure of liquids, glasses and nanocrystalline materials as well as multigrain crystallography will also be introduced. The lectures will be harmonized with the related sessions of interactive tutorials, providing hands-on experience to the attendees. These workshops will be focused on basic laboratory skills and the elements of data processing software related to the high pressure.

Subjecting matter to extreme conditions reveals a multitude of fascinating phenomena, and is applicable to a wide range of disciplines. From the extremophiles that exist in the deepest depths of our oceans to the exotic new materials that are made when atoms are pushed ever closer together, understanding the structure of materials at extreme conditions affects Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geoscience and Material Science.

In order to achieve its goals, high pressure research has been always at the vanguard of technical progress. It is a discipline in which equipment plays a particularly important role. State-of-the-art diamond anvil cells can now achieve megabar ranges of pressure, millions of times atmospheric pressure, with this beaten by an order of magnitude in dynamic compression experiments.

The course will cover broad ground in the application of extreme conditions crystallography. The topics will span from fundamentals of high-pressure single crystal and powder diffraction, to presenting the many flavors of static and dynamic compression, to reviews of sources for extreme conditions work (synchrotrons, neutrons and free electron lasers). Complementary experimental (Mössbauer spectroscopy, X-ray magnetic circular dichroism, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, inelastic scattering) and computational methods will also be discussed. Diffraction analysis on the structure of liquids, glasses and nanocrystalline materials as well as multigrain crystallography will also be introduced.

AICS2021 school is about fundamentals of crystallography and it is thought for students and researchers wishing to exploit crystallographic techniques in their research for the first time or those who already use crystallography and want to deepen basic theoretical aspects. Several topics will be discussed: from symmetry to reciprocal/real space, from diffraction theory to the math behind the structural solution. Interactive classes will be held after each theoretical session, thus giving the opportunity to practice what has been learned.

Topics

The main topics will be:

• Production and properties of Synchrotron Radiation;
• Basics of the interaction between matter and radiation;
• X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (EXAFS and XANES);
• X-ray Diffraction (single crystal and powder diffraction, anomalous scattering);
• Small angle X-ray scattering;
• Photoemission (from valence and from core levels; angular, time and spin resolved);
• IR spectroscopy and microscopy;
• Imaging;
• Data analysis on X-ray Absorption, Powder Diffraction and Core Level Photoemission Spectroscopy experiments
• Applications in many fields (materials, nanoscience, catalysis, earth science, environmental science, cultural heritage, biology and medicine).

We will be holding a Rigaku School for Practical Crystallography on basic topics in crystallography from January 10-14 and 17-21, 2022 from 0800-0930 CDT. (Use this Time Zone converter to determine your local time.)

The majority of the time will be spent on small molecule crystallography. This is a great opportunity for people interested in crystallography to gain a basic foundation of single crystal analysis from a practical point of view.

We also recognize that some students may not be able to join the live lectures by Zoom. We will make recordings of the lessons available for download shortly after the lectures so that students can keep up with the School and take the exam in the same manner as those who attended the live lectures. However, in order to take the exam and receive a certificate of achievement, you will need to register for the School here.

We will be holding a Rigaku School for Practical Crystallography on basic topics in crystallography from January 10-14 and 17-21, 2022 from 0800-0930 CDT. (Use this Time Zone converter to determine your local time.)

The majority of the time will be spent on small molecule crystallography. This is a great opportunity for people interested in crystallography to gain a basic foundation of single crystal analysis from a practical point of view.

We also recognize that some students may not be able to join the live lectures by Zoom. We will make recordings of the lessons available for download shortly after the lectures so that students can keep up with the School and take the exam in the same manner as those who attended the live lectures. However, in order to take the exam and receive a certificate of achievement, you will need to register for the School here.

An ICTP Virtual Meeting

There is no registration fee

Organizers: Simon Connell (University of Johannesburg AfLS), Andrea Lausi (SESAME), Kirsi Lorentz (Cyprus Institute), Alessandro Migliori (IAEA), Ed Mitchell (ESRF AfLS), Sekazi Mtingwa (LAAAMP AfLS), Ian Swainson (IAEA NEFW), Local Organiser: Nadia Binggeli

Virtual CCP4 Protein Crystallography Summer School 2021 to be hosted by the John Innes Centre (Norwich, UK).
 

The school will take place from Monday 6 September â€" Friday 10 September inclusive and is intended for students and researchers new to crystallography. Its dual aims are to provide comprehensive training in crystallography and to promote best practice. The lectures cover the range of techniques required for protein structure solution, from protein expression through to structure validation. Intensively supervised computer tutorials enable students to relate the theory presented in the lectures to practice.

Preliminary list of Invited Instructors:

• Claudio Aguilar (UFSM, Valparaíso, Chile)

• Tom Blanton (ICDD, USA)

• Raúl Cardoso-Gil (MPI-CPFS, Dresden, Germany)

• Miguel Delgado (ULA, Venezuela)

• Graciela Díaz de Delgado (ULA, Venezuela)

• David Rafaja (TUB, Freiberg, Germany)

• Diego G. Lamas (UNSM, Argentina)

• Karen Tellez (UFSM, Valparaíso, Chile)

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Main Topics:

- Symmetry in Crystals / The International Tables for Crystallography

- Fundamentals of X-Ray Diffraction

- The Diffraction phenomenon. The Structure Factor

- Fundamentals of XRPD / Data Collection (Practical session)

- Fundamentals of Phase-ID / (Hands-on sessions)

- Microstructural characterization using the Rietveld Method

- Microstructural characterization using LPA & WPPM / (Hands-on sessions)

- Other Techniques for the Characterization of the Microstructure.

30 participants will be selected, prioritizing graduate students and young scientists.

Based on the progress of the Covid-19 vaccination achieved in Chile, the school is

being planned to be an in-person event. However, plans for remote transmission

have been implemented for participants who cannot travel to Chile.

Additional participants could be accommodated to attend the lectures only.

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Applications

• https://forms.gle/Fuuy2QdvwUnCtEts9

This school will be a fully online event organized in Budapest, Hungary

Extended Standard registration deadline
30 June 2021

Student under 35 years: EUR 240
Participant above 35 years: EUR 290
Non-Academic: EUR 390

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A satellite of the IUCr congress in Prague.
Registration has already started and can be done through the main
conference system at https://www.conftool.com/iucr2020/ Â 

Follow also our hashtag on Twitter, #IUCr2020CompSchool.

Structural Biology to enhance high impact research in health and disease

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Main Topics:
· data collection (remotely @ Diamond synchrotron);
· data processing;
· phasing and structure determination;
· model refinement and validation.

25 participants will be selected, prioritizing advanced PhD students, postdocs and young researchers. No registration fee, please look in the www site for details on application procedures.
Participants will have the opportunity to collect data from their own crystals at Diamond Light Source synchrotron via remote access, with the assistance of Diamond staff.
The workshop will be virtual considering the pandemics constraints. It will combine excellent lectures with hands-on problem-solving sessions. Tutorials of state-of-the-art software will include XDS, Dials, Phaser, ShelX, Coot, Refmac, Buster-TNT, PISA, among others.
Since the workshop is virtual additional participants may elect to attend lectures only. If you wish to do this please complete the registration form and indicate that this is your choice.

Invited speakers and tutors :
• Rafael Junqueira Borges (Instituto de Biociências UNESP, Botucatu, Brazil)
• Kevin Cowtan (University of York, UK)
• Eleanor Dodson (University of York, UK)
• Paul Emsley (Laboratory of Molecular Biology MRC, Cambridge, UK)
• Elspeth Garman (University of Oxford, UK)
• Beatriz Guimarāes (Instituto Carlos Chagas Fiocruz, Curitiba, Brazil)
• Marin van Heel (Lab. Nacional de Nanotecnologia CNPEM, Campinas, Brazil)
• Ronan Keegan (STFC Rutherford Appleton Lab â€" CCP4, Didcot, UK)
• Eugene Krissinel (STFC Rutherford Appleton Lab â€" CCP4, Didcot, UK)
• Andrey Lebedev (STFC Rutherford Appleton Lab â€" CCP4, Didcot, UK)
• Natalia Lisa (Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular, Rosario, Argentina)
• Joāo Muniz (Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Brazil)
• Garib Murshudov (Laboratory of Molecular Biology MRC, Cambridge, UK)
• James Parkhurst (Diamond Light Source, Didcot, UK)
• Randy Read (University of Cambridge, UK)
• Silvia Russi (Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, USA)
• Nukri Sanishvili (Argonne National Laboratory, Chicago, USA)
• Isabel Usón (Instituto de Biología Molecular de Barcelona, Spain)
• Clemens Vonrhein (Global Phasing Ltd, Cambridge, UK)

Organizers:
Nicole Larrieux, Clinical Biochemist. Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay
Kyle Stevenson, DPhil. CCP4, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, United Kingdom
Alejandro Buschiazzo, PhD. Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay

The application deadline is June 30, 2021.

UXSS is an annual event jointly organized by the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL) and the Stanford PULSE Institute at SLAC.  UXSS is intended to introduce students and postdocs to the latest science enabled by X-ray Free Electron Lasers. The program will be highly interdisciplinary, with topics ranging from materials physics to structural biology. The list of confirmed speakers can be found below. There will also be a coursework exercise involving a mock proposal for the European XFEL, with the help of experienced mentors.

Due to travel restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, UXSS 2021 will be held entirely online as a remote summer school.

The school focuses on the determination of structures and microstructures at the nanoscale by electron diffraction in a transmission electron microscope (TEM). It relates in particular to recent developments associated with the use of new techniques for acquiring and / or analyzing data such as precession, tomography and orientation mapping. Convergent beam symmetry analysis methods will also be presented.

The school comprises two parts: remote data collection workshop and virtual crystallographic computing workshop. Data collection workshop includes beamline training, data collection on GM/CA at APS beamlines 23ID-D and 23ID-B equipped with Pilatus3 6M and Eiger 16M detectors respectively, and data processing. For data collection, only the participants' crystals will be used. Crystallographic computation workshop will feature many modern crystallographic software packages taught by authors and other experts. The daily schedule will be organized in three sections - lectures, tutorials, and hands-on (interactive troubleshooting of the technical difficulties the participants face in their projects). We have had considerable success resolving these problems in past years, attested by resulting publications (see http://www.ccp4.ac.uk/schools/APS-school/publications.php). A sample program, contact info and other details can be found at the School website.

Applicants: Graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and early-career faculty, along with commercial/industrial researchers are encouraged to apply. Only about 20 applicants will be selected for participation. Participants of the workshop are strongly encouraged to bring their own problem data sets or crystals so the problems can be addressed during data collection and/or computation workshops.
 

Application: Application deadline is April 1st, 2021. To apply, visit https://www.ccp4.ac.uk/schools/APS-2021/application.php.

Fees: There is no fee for attending the virtual school for the chosen applicants.

 

Part 1: November 23^rd â€" 27^th 2020

Part 2: December 7^th â€" 11^th 2020

The School is intended primarily for young researchers in the chemical, molecular and solid-state sciences. Applicants from all regions of the world will be considered. The goal is that the participants gain hands-on experience plus a theoretical background in the art and science of routine crystal and molecular structure determination of small molecules by single-crystal X-ray crystallography, as well as in the interpretation and presentation of results. The School will consist of lectures, computer exercises and practical work. The School is ideal for anyone for whom a knowledge of crystal structure analysis would be particularly helpful in their current research.