The 2010 Annual Meeting: A Great Success

ACA would like to thank all those who have made this year's meeting in Chicago possible.  ACA is grateful to the 2010 Program Chair, Local Chair, Session Chairs and invited speakers for their diligent efforts to make this meeting a success.  The Association was honored to have  the 2009 Nobel Laureates in Chemistry  present lectures in Chicago.  Venkatraman Ramakrishnan gave a plenary lecture on Saturday, Thomas Steitz gave a plenary lecture on Wednesday and  Ada Yonath presented a plenary lecture during session 07.18 on Macromolecules, Complexes & Assemblies.

Invitation

Dear Colleagues:
You are cordially invited to participate in the 8th Conference of the Asian Crystallographic Association, AsCA'07, which will be held at the Howard International House in Taipei, Taiwan from November 4th to 7th, 2007. This conference is the eighth of the conference series on crystallography in Asia since its inauguration in Singapore in 1992, which intends to cover all aspects of crystallography, ranging from inorganic and organic small molecules to macromolecular proteins, viruses, and membrane proteins; from crystal growth to protein engineering; from structural chemistry and material science to nanoscience and nanotechnology; from crystal structure, proteomics, and genomics, to drug design; from diffraction physics and ray optics to the applications of electron, neutron, and synchrotron X-ray photons for structural investigations, etc..
Taipei is situated in a basin in northern Taiwan. The city blends traditional culture and cosmopolitan life. The metropolitan Taipei is the cultural, commercial, finance, and educational centers of Taiwan. There are more than thirty universities and colleges around. In the suburbs, places of historic interest and scenic beauty are worth visiting, such as National Palace Museum, Long-San Temple, Taipei Botanical Garden, Yangmingshan National Park, Zhishan Cultural and Ecological Garden, Hot Springs Area, Beitou Hot Spring Museum, Folk Arts Museum, and the Tower 101, among many other attractions.
We hope that the conference will provide an excellent platform for efficient exchange in many branches of sciences relating to crystallography. And your participation will guarantee the success of the conference.
We are looking forward to seeing you in Taipei.
Professor Shih-Lin Chang
Chairman
Organizing Committee AsCA'07

You are cordially invited to attend the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Crystallographic Association to be held May 31st through June 5th, in Knoxville Tennessee. The workshops, scientific and poster sessions, as well as the exhibit show will be housed in the Knoxville Convention Center.

Présentation et objectifs

La Faculté des Sciences de l’Université Mohammed V-Agdal et l’Association Marocaine de Cristallographie (AMC) organisent la 4ème Ecole Marocaine de Cristallographie (EMC4) du 26 au 29 mai 2008 sous le thème :

La cristallographie, diffraction, instrumentation et leurs apports à la science des matériaux

L'AMC organise tous les deux ans une école sur les thèmes en relation avec la cristallographie. La 1ère école a eu lieu à la Faculté des Sciences de Marrakech en 2002 (100 participants), la 2ème à la Faculté des Sciences d’El Jadida en 2004 (126 participants) et la 3ème à la Faculté des Sciences d’Agadir en 2006 (133 participants).  L’objectif de cette manifestation scientifique est de regrouper les utilisateurs de la cristallographie, universitaires et industriels, pour faire le point sur les derniers développements réalisés dans ce domaine.
En plus de l’aspect fondamental de la cristallographie, des applications multiples s’étendent de l’industrie minière à l’industrie pharmaceutique en passant par la métallurgie et le nucléaire.  Cette formation s’adresse aux chercheurs, doctorants, enseignants chercheurs et aux ingénieurs. Elle sera animée, par des personnalités scientifiques de renommée internationale, sous forme de conférences, de cours et d'ateliers pratiques. Une partie sera réservée à la démonstration de nouveaux matériels et de logiciels de cristallographie les plus récents.  Durant les quatre jours de cette école, les conférenciers débâteront les sujets suivants

• Diffraction des rayons X et des neutrons
• Diffraction électronique
• Rayonnement Synchrotron
• Structures modulées
• Structures des macro molécules (protéines)
• Instrumentations et logiciels

Invitation

Dear Colleagues:
We cordially invite you to join the joint conference of the Asian Crystallographic Association (AsCA) and the Crystallographic Society of Japan (CrSJ) in Tsukuba, Japan, from November 20th to 23rd, 2006.  This conference is the seventh conference counting from the inaugural conference in Singapore in 1992 and follows the highly successful AsCA’04 conference in Hong Kong. It includes all aspects of materials science related to crystallography, such as nano and biological materials, and encompasses X-ray and neutron scattering/diffraction, electron microscopy, XAFS, NMR and so on. Crystal growth studies are also welcomed at the conference.
Tsukuba, in the shadow of Mt. Tsukuba, is located about 50km northeast of Tokyo and about 40km northwest of the New Tokyo International Airport in Narita. Tsukuba, formerly farming land, was established as a science city about 35 years ago, and following the International Exposition of Science and Technology (Tsukuba EXPO ’85) became well known not just in Japan, but internationally. It has grown to become an international-level research center, with 2 universities and more than 40 research laboratories. A new rail link from Akihabara (Tokyo) to Tsukuba (45 minutes) will open in summer 2005.Â
We look forward to meeting you at AsCA’06/CrSJ, which will provide you with an outstanding variety of multi-disciplinary science and a great forum to interact with international colleagues in vibrant environment.
Professor Kazumasa Ohsumi
Chairman

The Siena 2006 School on Crystallographic Teaching will be run at the Certosa di Pontignano, 10 km outside the town of Siena, in Tuscany, Italy. The school organisers are extremely appreciative of the generous support from the University of Siena in providing such facilities.
The Teaching Commission (TC) of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) proposes to organise an International School on Basic Crystallography. Recognising that basic crystallographic curricula is regressing in the academic bachelors and masters formation, the TC expects to fill this formation gap by organising an intensive one week course possibly on a periodic basis.
The organisation of the school will be close to the successful model adopted by the British Crystallography Association (BCA), which has acquired an excellent popularity since its existence. The topics will be presented to students in two equally distributed forms, namely ex cathedra teaching during the morning and tutoring during the afternoon. The lecturers are experienced crystallographers with excellent international reputation and a long experience in teaching. Following the presentation of each topic, tutors will lead the students by working in small groups with the aim to solve practical exercises.
After a general introduction to crystallography, the student will first acquire elementary notions on matrices and group theories in order to get familiar with the concept of crystal symmetry. The concept of isometry will lead to point and space group symmetries. The student will be able to understand the description of crystalline structures on the basis of its space group, lattice constants and atomic coordinates.
The students will then be introduced to diffraction, which is fundamental for the study of matter at the atomic level. The various X-ray and neutron diffraction techniques, based on single crystal and powder methods, will be introduced. The techniques of data acquisitions, structure solutions and refinements will be followed by the derivation and the interpretation of the results. Finally, the student will be introduced to information retrieval from the numerous crystallographic databases, which are of prime importance for any research in the field of crystallography.
With its origins as a 14th century monastery, the Certosa di Pontignano provides a wonderful environment for teachers and students alike. It is now run by the University of Siena. Attractively placed on the top of a hill, it is surrounded by vineyards; with a direct view to the town of Siena, and a famous Chianti winery. We hope to have a productive school worth remembering both for its teaching content, and its surroundings.

ECM24 is over…….

Dear delegates, Dear accompanying guests, Dear sponsors and exhibitors,

On behalf of the Organizing Committee I would like to thank you for your large participation in ECM24.Â

The participation in the ECM24 was one of the largest over the last ten years. The scientific and social programs were particularly attractive to scientists from more than 50 countries. In addition, three workshops and satellite meetings and several meetings of Special Interest Groups, and round table were held before the opening of ECM24 and during the meeting. Â

ECM24 was very attractive for sponsors and exhibitors. 24 companies and organizations attended the meeting. Â

I am very grateful to the Programme Committee, the chairpersons of SIGs, the microsymposia chairpersons and the excellent speakers who have contributed to the success of ECM24.Â

The continuous support and encouragement of the ECA Executive Committee is kindly acknowledged.Â

I would like to thank the sponsors and exhibitors for their participation which was synergetic and vital to the success of this event. Â

I am very grateful to the IUCr, the ECA, the Organization for the Prohibition of the Chemical Weapon (OPCW) and the University Cadi Ayyad of Marrakech for their financial support to the young scientists and scientists from emerging countries. The invited speakers who renounced any financial assistance have made the participation of many young international researchers possible. They will find here all my thank and my respect.Â

I wish to thank my colleagues on the local organizing committee, the Congress Secretariat leaded by Prof Nouzha Bouhmaida assisted by Mrs Siham Rezzouqui, my colleagues on the Organizing and Bursary Committees for their wonderful work. The team of Events Motion, our Congress Manager, conducted by Mrs Majdouline Tazi and Mr Zoubair Amghar, are aknowledged for their hard work, the patience they have shown during the preparation of the meeting and the excellent organization of ECM24.
I hope that you have enjoyed your stay in Marrakech, found some time to visit its historical monuments, learnt about Moroccan culture and appreciated our social programme.
Finally I would like to thank the large number of participants who send us their congratulations since the closing of ECM24. The organizing Committee appreciates it very much.
See you all in Osaka next year!
And

Istanbul in August 2009Â

Abdelmalek Thalal
Chair of the ECM24

You are cordially invited to attend the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Crystallographic Association to be held, July 22 - 27, in Honolulu, Hawaii.  Honolulu, the capital city of the 50th state to be admitted to the United States, is located on the island of Ohau.  The Hawaiian islands were born of volcanoes millions of years ago and discovered by Polynesian voyagers who arrived in outrigger sailing canoes some 1,5000 years ago.  Hawaii's people are descended from Polynesians, Americans, Europeans, Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, Okinawans, Puerto Ricans, Pacific Islanders and Southeast Asian. No one ethnic group is in a majority here.  The Aloha Spirit Law is an actual  law "on the books" in Hawaii,  and acknowledges that The Aloha Spirit "was the working philosophy of native Hawaiians and was presented as a gift to the people of Hawaii." All citizens and government officials of Hawaii are obligated by law to conduct themselves in accordance with this law, while performing their duties and obligations, as well as in their day-to-day living.  The history of the ancient Hawaiian people is preserved through chants (mele) and dances (hula) that are still practiced today. Honoring Hawaiian heritage, making it a vital part of everyday life is The Spirit of Aloha.

The theme for the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Society For Biomaterials is “Pioneering the Future of Biomaterials”, a nod to the historical significance of our host city, Denver, Colorado, and a recognition of the pioneering spirit required to advance the scientific frontier.

The Annual Meeting focuses on fostering development of new implant materials and devices for improvement of the human condition. The meeting program will include the latest innovations in materials science, molecular and cell biology and engineering, new opportunities and mechanisms for translation of these findings to new or improved medical treatments, and engagement of attendees from industry and academia to accelerate the translation of research to clinical applications.Â

The meeting format will include Symposia, General Sessions, Workshops, Panel Discussions, and Tutorials, covering all aspects of basic, applied, and translational biomaterials science.

The first Workshop in Crystallography in Albania during the XX Congress of the Carpathian Balkan Geological Association

Organized by the Geological Society of Albania (GSA) and European Crystallographic Association (ECA) in collaboration with Institute of Crystallography-CNR (Bari, Italy).Â

8.30-13.00. Chairs: Dritan Siliqi and Enkeleida Beqiraj

• Welcome
• • Prof. Agim Sinojmeri, Faculty of Geology and Mining, Polytechnic University of Tirana, Albania
    Dr. Michele Saviano, Director Institute of Crystallography (IC)-CNR, President of Italian Crystallographic Association (AIC), Italy
• One hundred years of Crystallography
• • Prof. Aldo Craievich, Instituto de Física, USP, Sao Paulo, Brasil
• Basic aspects of Crystallography
• • Prof. Aldo Craievich, Instituto de Física, USP, Sao Paulo, Brasil
• Crystallography and the phase problem: from small to the macromolecules
• • Dr Dritan Siliqi, CNR-IC, Bari, Italy.

14.00-17.30. Chairs: Aldo Craievich and Cinzia Giannini

• Powder X-ray diffraction: theory and applications
• • Dr Angela Altomare, CNR-IC, Bari, Italy.
• X-ray microscopy with Small/Wide X-ray Scattering (SAXS-WAXS) contrast
• • Dr Cinzia Giannini, CNR-IC, Bari, Italy.
• Atomic resolution Electron Microscopy methods in the study of Inorganic matter.
• • Dr Elvio Carlino, CNR-IOM, Trieste, Italy
• Scanning probe microscopy: theory, instrumentation and advanced applications to mineral and material science.
• • Dr Giovanni Valdré, Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy

17.45-18.45. Chairs: Agim Sinojmeri and Altin Mele

• Past, present, and the future of crystallography in Albania.
• • Short presentations and discussions

This meeting provides an opportunity for young researchers to present their work, discuss about crystallography, physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and cooperation at national, regional or international levels.

The 72nd Annual Pittsburgh Diffraction Conference

October 26 - 28, 2014 University of Georgia Athens, GA

Program Sessions

• 100 years of X-ray diffraction: how we got here & future opportunities
• • Chair John Rose University of Georgia
• Challenging small molecule crystallography
• • Chair  Charles Lake, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
• Crystallographic education
• • Â Chair Joe Ng, University of Alabama in HuntsvilleÂ
• Advances in neutron crystallography
• • Â Chair Paul Langan, SNS Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Meeting organizers John Rose & B.C. WangÂ

Oral and poster abstracts on diverse diffraction studies are welcome from both established and junior investigators, with several sessions reserved for students/postdoc talks.

Intended audience and purpose of the course

Read the announcement here.

The course is intended primarily for Master’s and PhD students in the molecular and solid state sciences, particularly from across Europe, but applicants from other regions 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 course will consist of lectures, computer exercises and practical work.

Elementary knowledge of general-purpose, first-year university-level chemistry and mathematical concepts is helpful. No specialized knowledge of crystallography is required, but some prior experience is useful. The course language is English and participants must be sufficiently proficient in English to be able to understand the lectures and participate in discussions without difficulty.

The course is not suitable for persons interested specifically in powder diffraction techniques or macromolecular crystallography.

Bring your own crystals

The unique aspect of the School is that participants get to collect data and determine the structure of one of their own compounds that they are currently interested in and that they have not worked on before. Participants prepare and send their own crystals of one compound several weeks before before the School, so that the crystal quality and suitability of the problem may be assessed. At the end of the School, participants give a ten minute presentation of the results of their analysis.

ECTS credit for course

The University of Zürich offers 3 ECTS points, equivalent to 90 contact hours, for the course to successful students. Receiving credit requires

• attendance during the full duration of the School.
• passing a two-hour written examination on the final morning of the School and a positive assessment of the practical course work by the directors of the School.

Acceptance of the credit points by the student's home university must be negotiated by the students themselves on the basis of the detailed School programme, the result of their examination and the course assessment by the School directors.

Mission

Modern crystallography is entering its 2nd century of life, being as vital and challenging as a young discipline. In the last decades, crystallography has experienced a rapid advance concerning not only the fundamental knowledge but also the instrumentation and the automation of software and tools for structure solution, refinement and analysis. Such innovations have produced an enormous impact towards a deeper understanding of the properties of matter and of the functionality of materials and molecular entities of all dimensions, as witnessed by well-recognized novel findings.

On the other hand, automated techniques typically discourage critical thinking and constitute a serious risk for young crystallographers, who may lose the capability of evaluating the accuracy and goodness of data and critically analysing the results. This risk has been increased by the reduction of fundamental Academic courses in crystallography all over Europe.

The ECS1 is directed to young researchers and Ph.D. students involved in different fields of structural sciences, including physics, biology, chemistry, mineralogy, materials science, cultural heritage. It aims at diffusing and sharing the idea of crystallography as a unique discipline: "crystallography is an excellent example of the universality of science", to cite the Proclamation of 2014 as International Year of Crystallography. The School will provide the students with instruments for acquiring a deep know-how and a strong background on the fundamentals of crystallography. Students will also gain consciousness of progresses, limitations and perspectives of the crystallographic theories and methods, and of how they can be adapted to the different "flavours" of structural science, ranging from small molecule to large macromolecular assemblies. The fil-rouge of the multi-faceted methods to be delivered in this School is to provide students with fundamental interpretative and predictive information and ideas for further scientific developments.

Different facets of crystallography will be explored, and expectations for research in the next century discussed and analysed through a series of reviews from renowned teachers. Such contributions will be collected in the Educational Book associated to the School, with the aim of inspiring and suggesting ideas for novel research projects in crystallography.

International Union of Crystallography

Commission on Mathematical and Theoretical Crystallography

Second South African School on Fundamental Crystallography

Satellite meeting of the 21st Meeting of the International Mineralogical Union

Bloemfontein, South Africa, 25-29 August 2014
To celebrate the International Year of Crystallography, the 21st Meeting of the International Mineralogical Union (IMA-2014) will put special emphasis and on the crystallographic sessions. To facilitate the participation to these sessions the Second South-African School of Fundamental Crystallography will be run as a Satellite meeting of IMA-2104.

Pre-requisites

The participants are expected to know basic matrix algebra (how to multiply matrices and vectors, how calculate determinant and trace of a matrix), fundamental electromagnetism (waves, diffraction) and basic chemistry.

Program

• Introduction to group theory
• Crystallographic point groups
• Stereographic projection and the morphology of crystals
• Space groups
• Exercises on the space group diagrams from Volume A of the International Tables
• Fourier transforms and convolutions
• Scattering from an electron, an atom, a unit cell, a crystal
• Diffraction symmetry: Laue classes, Friedel's law, resonant scattering
• General, zonal and serial reflection conditions and their use to determine the space-group type
• Group-subgroup relations and their application to phase transitions
• Twins and modular structures
• Use of the Bilbao Crystallographic Server in the study of the structure and properties of crystals

Language

The official language of the Schools is English. No simultaneous interpretation has been provided.

Venue

The School will be held at Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences of the University of the Free State.