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X-Ray diffraction pattern, Wikimedia Commons

Commission on Powder Diffraction

Schools and Workshops

This page links to Schools and Workshops with useful educational content. 

Erice 2011: The Power of Powder Diffraction

Erice, Italy, 2-12 June 2011

Structural crystallography is often thought to be synonymous with single-crystal crystallography, yet for several decades, powder diffraction has made important contributions to the understanding of materials structure and behaviour. However, it is perhaps the last decade that has seen some of the most remarkable breakthroughs in experimental powder diffraction and in the analysis of powder diffraction data, to the extent that it is no longer considered to be an analytical technique of last resort. Instrumentation at both the laboratory and facility level has become increasingly versatile to the extent that throughput and resolution are no longer mutually exclusive. In the field of data analysis, ingenious algorithms that take full advantage of modern computing power have meant that inorganic, molecular and even protein structures are being solved and refined relatively routinely. The 44th crystallographic course at the Ettore Majorana Centre was intended to serve as a complete introduction to the diverse field of powder diffraction, and to provide a firm grounding for attendees, from which to build future research achievements.

9th Canadian Powder Diffraction Workshop

Patras International Workshop: Powder & Electron Crystallography

July 8-12, 2013

Topics included:

  • Powder Crystallography: Powder diffraction (experimental methods, sample preparation, detectors, synchrotron radiation), The unit cell determination, Full pattern powder decomposition, Space group determination, Ab initio and non ab initio phasing techniques for powder diffraction data, Computer applications.
    Protein Powder Diffraction: Overview, methods & applications.
  • Electron Crystallography: The physical bases of the electron diffraction and their special features with respect to X-ray and neutron diffraction. The experimental diffraction methods: elements of electron microscopy, traditional diffraction techniques and modern ones (the Precession Electron Diffraction (PED) and the Automated Diffraction Tomography (ADT) methods). Phasing via electron diffraction data: computer applications.
Group of people against a blue sky

From left to right:

Alexandros Valmas (UPAT- GR), Fani Karavassili (UPAT-GR), Corrado Cuocci (Institute of Crystallography, Bari), Anna Wright & Jon Wright (ESRF- Grenoble), Matthias Norrman (Novo Nordisk- Copenhagen), Camille & Robert Von Dreele (APS- Chicago), Andrew Stewart (UPAT- GR), Rafael Silva Nunes (University of Durham, UK), Rosanna Rizzi (Institute of Crystallography, Bari), Stavroula Fili (UPAT-GR), Irene Margiolaki (UPAT-GR), Partha Pratim Das (UPAT-GR), Fabia Gozzo (Excelsus consortium, Belgium)