International Union of Crystallography

Commission on Mathematical and Theoretical Crystallography

School on Fundamental Crystallography

Mahdia, Tunisia, 9-13 April 2012
Organized by the Commission on Mathematical and Theoretical Crystallography (MaThCryst) and the Tunisian Crystallographic Association (Association Tunisienne de Cristallographie), in cooperation with the IUCr Commission on Crystallographic Teaching (CT).

Program

FUNDAMENTALS

• Introduction to matrix algebra
• Symmetry in nature and in human life

BASIC CONCEPTS

• Affine spaces vs. vector spaces
• Mappings: affine and Euclidean; isometries and symmetry operations
• Sets; homomorphisms, isomorphisms, automorphisms
• Introduction to group theory: abstract groups, subgroups, cosets

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY IN DIRECT SPACE

• Periodic structure of the crystalline matter
• Crystal lattice vs. crystal pattern and crystal structure
• Symmetry directions in a lattice
• Unit cells: primitive cells, multiple cells, conventional cells in 2D and 3D
• Crystal families
• Symmetry groups and types of symmetry in direct space
• • morphological symmetry
  • symmetry of physical properties
  • symmetry of lattices
  • symmetry of the unit cell content
  • symmetry of crystallographic patterns
• Hermann-Mauguin symbols for point groups
• lattice systems
• Crystal systems
• Stereographic projection and the morphology of crystals
• Types of crystallographic point groups through the stereographic projection
• Generation of space groups. Symmetry operations with and without a glide component. Hermann-Mauguin symbols for space groups
• Orthogonal projections of space groups. General and special positions, site-symmetry groups, crystallographic orbits
• Introduction to crystallographic calculations through matrix algebra. Abstract groups, subgroups, cosets
• Short introduction to the subgroups and supergroups of space groups
• Exercises on the space group diagrams from Volume A of the International Tables for Crystallography

PHYSICS OF DIFFRACTION AND CRYSTALLOGRAPHY IN RECIPROCAL SPACE

• Interaction of X-rays with crystalline matter
• Fourier transforms and convolutions
• Crystallographic calculations in reciprocal space
• Diffraction symmetry: Laue classes, Friedel's law, resonant scattering
• Integral, zonal and serial reflection conditions and their use to determine the space-group type
• Structure solution and refinement: introductory strategies

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY ONLINE: SHORT PRACTICAL COURSE ON THE USE AND APPLICATIONS OF THE BILBAO CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC SERVER

The aim of the course is to give a tutorial and practical guide to the crystallographic databases and some of the computer tools available on the Bilbao Crystallographic Server (www.cryst.ehu.es). Online exercises will help the participants to get some practical experience in the use and applications of the computer programs in treating problems of theoretical crystallography, solid-state physics and crystal chemistry.

1. Databases and computer tools for group-subgroup relations between space groups
   1. Crystallographic databases and access tools
      1. Space-group symmetry databases (International Tables for Crystallography, Volume A: Space-group symmetry)
      2. Maximal subgroups and minimal supergroups (International Tables for Crystallography, Volume A1: Symmetry relations between space groups)
      3. Brillouin-zone database
   2. Group-subgroup relations between space groups
      1. Study of general group-subgroup pair of space groups; Hermann theorem: twins and antiphase domains; coset decompositions. Supergroups of space groups
      2. Symmetry relations between Wyckoff positions for group-subgroup pairs; Baernighausen trees constructions
   3. Structure utilities and tools
      1. Equivalent structure descriptions; structure descriptions with respect to different space-group settings
      2. Comparison between different descriptions of the same structure
      3. Computer tools for the study of structural relationships
2. Tools for structural phase transitions on the Bilbao Crystallographic Server
   1. Structural pseudosymmetry
      1. Methods of pseudosymmetry search using supergroups of space groups
      2. Search for new ferroelectric and ferroelastic materials
   2. Phase transitions with group-subgroup relations between the space groups of the two phases
      1. Inverse Landau problem
      2. Symmetry-mode analysis of displacive phase transitions

Language

The official languages of the Schools were English and French. Bilingual tutors helped the participants during the guided exercises.

Venue

The School was held at the Hotel Thalassa. It had been postponed from the initial dates of 25-29 April 2011.

International Conference on Neutron and X-Ray Scattering (ICNX 2009)

In view ofthe success of previous neutron and x-ray scattering conference in this region (ICNX 2007, Serpong and Bandung, Indonesia), it has been decided to reconvene the International Conference on Neutron and X-Ray Scattering, in 2009. The conference will take place from June 29, 30 and july 1, 2009 at Putra World Trade Centrre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Â

Scattering technique using neutron and x-ray is a powerful method to probe and study the structures and dynamics of materials ranging from the mechanics of protein folding and its effect in physiology to the ordering of atomic magnets of solid materials of industrial interest. Both neutron and x-ray can be exploited using a variety of measurement techniques to provide information not otherwise available.Â

The availability of new optical system that can micro-focus neutron provides opportunity to explore new characterization technique and full-utilization of small research reactor that scattered throughout the world. The emergences of new synchrotrons allow more scientists to use high-intensity x-ray for their research. In addition, new modeling approach and software development permit valuable connection between theoretical and experimental analysis. Â Characterization with neutron and x-ray scattering has made significant contribution to the large research activities in engineering, materials development, polymer dynamics, chemical technology, biological studies, and physics, and will continue to do so.Â

The objective of this conference is to bring together scientists who develop neutron and x-ray scattering instruments, perform characterization experiments, synthesized materials and computation. Discussion will be focused on recent results and ideas in these areas. The conference will consist of lectures and poster on new and emerging areas in scattering technique

2010 Chemical Crystallography Workshop

McMaster University, Hamilton, ON
May 25 -29
The second Chemical Crystallography Workshop in Canada will once again be hosted by the McMaster Analytical X-ray (MAX) Diffraction Facility at McMaster University in Hamilton, ON. The Workshop will be targeted towards chemistry graduate students and post docs who would benefit from an improved understanding of the basic theory and practice of structure determination using single crystal X-ray diffraction methods. The workshop is offered as a satellite to the 2010 Canadian Society for Chemistry meeting in Toronto. The McMaster campus is on the very inexpensive GO Transit network (bus, commuter train) with both the Pearson Airport and Union Station (near the convention center).
The Workshop is organized by the Canadian National Committee for Crystallography. The International Union of Crystallography is a sponsor of the workshop, and is providing travel assistance for International students who qualify.
Participants will work with the WinGX software (on their own Windows laptops) and solve and refine several crystal structures, including one or two from their own research. Those who do not have access to a diffractometer can arrange to collect data in advance of the workshop. Several practice data sets will be supplied. WinGX is a free package with hooks into SHEXLS, SHELXD, SHELXL, SIR92, Superflip, PLATON, ORTEP, and more - everything required to process, solve, refine and validate single crystal diffraction data, as well as generate images and data tables.
Short demonstrations and presentations will be spread out over the five days in order for the student to appreciate some of the theory and and practice behind the process. A vague recollection of wave addition, Fourier transforms, point groups, matrices, trig and algebra will be assumed, although explanations will usually be based on 3D visualizations rather than equations.

Program

The program will consist of short lectures and demonstrations throughout the meeting. We will cover sample selection and mounting, optimizing data collection, diffraction theory, symmetry and space groups, reciprocal space, integration of data, structure solution and model building, refinement, and analyses and presentation of the derived data. Students will be solving and refining structures, starting almost immediately. We will have several experienced crystallographers helping the participants. Organic, inorganic, organometallic, and solid state crystals are all fair game.

The 2009 Joint Conference of the Asian Crystallographic Association (AsCA'09) and Chinese Crystallography Society

The Joint Conference of the Asian Crystallographic Association and the Chinese Crystallographic Society, 2009 (AsCA'09) was organized under the auspices of the Asian Crystallographic Association (AsCA), the Biophysical Society of China (BSC), the Chinese Crystallographic Society (CCS), the Institute of Biophysics CAS (IBP), Nankai University, Tsinghua University and Peking University. This conference was held in Beijing from October 22-25, 2009. Zihe Rao, president of BCS and Jianhua Lin, president of CCS jointly chaired the meeting.
AsCA is a large academic meeting of the Asian Crystallographic Society which is held every 3 years and is very popular within the international crystallographic community. This year, 518 delegates attended AsCA'09, of whom 310 were from the United States, England, Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, India and Bangladesh, and from Hong-Kong and Taiwan regions. Up to 299 conference papers were submitted to the organizing committee. Seven outstanding crystallographers, including Ted Baker, Hongkun Park, Joel Sussman, Matthew Rosseinsky, David Owen, Thomas Mak and Yoshinori Fujiyoshi, were invited as speakers. There were 84 oral presentations given and 208 academic posters presented at the conference. In addition, four training courses were arranged before the meeting, which provided opportunities for graduates and postdoctoral fellows to study the latest techniques, present their research and benefit from academic interaction. A new feature of this AsCA meeting was a Plenary Symposium Session for young scientists, called "AsCA Rising Stars". Six speakers were selected to participate in this symposium based on submitted abstracts. This session received the approval of the AsCA organizing committee and will be repeated in AsCA conferences in the future.
The opening ceremony started at 6:00pm on October 22 at the Beijing Jingyi Hotel and was presided over by the Executive chairman Zhijie Liu. Academician Dongcai Liang, a member of the AsCA Advisory Committee, and Prof. Peter Colman, Chairman of the AsCA Program, gave Welcome speeches. Prof. Ted Baker then gave the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) lecture.
The meeting focused on Crystallography and related research fields, covering Structural Biology, Chemical Crystallography - Structure and Properties, and Specialized Techniques in three sessions. The Structural Biology session covered hot spot topics such as Membrane proteins, Protein-nucleic acid complexes, Structural genomics, and Structural biology in disease/structure-based drug design. Five topics were covered in the Chemical Crystallography - Structure and Properties session: Inorganic and nano-materials, Charge density studies, Organic crystal engineering and structure, Metal-organic crystal engineering, and Superconductivity and crystal properties. Topics such as Neutron and synchrotron sources and applications, advanced imaging techniques, small-angle scattering and soft materials crystallography, powder diffraction, and electron microscopy and diffraction were highlighted in the specialized techniques session. The academic schedule of the meeting was packed and presenters did an excellent job at bringing delegates up-to-date with new areas of progress and trends in the field of Crystallography. Participants were actively involved in academic interaction and discussion. Most participants gave very positive feedback on the high standard of the presentations.
This meeting was successfully accomplished thanks to the hard work and efficient organization of BSC and IBP, with significant help from other organizations including the Bureau of International cooperation at CAS, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Clays, clay minerals and layered materials

Moscow, Russia, 21 - 25 September 2009

Previous meetings on clays and clay minerals were held in Voronezh (2004) and Puschino (2006). The present meeting is devoted to the study of clay minerals and layered materials and their industrial applications. Layered materials always attract a lot of attention due to the variety of chemical composition, structure and properties. Today a special interest is given to the application of layered materials in nanotechnology. The conference has an interdisciplinary character. It is aimed to join specialists working with layered materials in the different fields of fundamental and applied science.Â

This interdisciplinary meeting presents programming in these topical areas:

• Synthesis, structure and characteristics of clay minerals and layered materials
• Advanced techniques of analysis of clay minerals and layered materials
• Physical and chemical properties of clay minerals and layered materials
• New layered materials and nanostructures and it's applications in the industry
• Clay minerals in soils and sediments: weathering and alteration
• Clay minerals in the oil and gas industry
• Clay minerals in the archeology and art
• MS 19 - Structure and properties of functional materials at extreme conditions

We were delighted to host the sixth International Conference on Aperiodic Crystals APERIODIC'09 in Liverpool in September 2009, and thank all participants for their contributions and their support.
The proceedings have now been published electronically as volume 226 of Journal of Physics: Conference Series. All papers in the proceedings volume are open access. Printed copies of the proceedings volume will be mailed to participants soon.
Aperiodic'09 was the sixth International Conference on Aperiodic Crystals, organized under the auspices of the Commission on Aperiodic Crystals of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr). It followed Aperiodic'94 (Les Diablerets), Aperiodic'97 (Alpe d'Huez), Aperiodic'2000 (Nijmegen), Aperiodic'03 (Belo Horizonte) and Aperiodic'06 (Zao). The next conference in this series will be held in Australia in 2012, organised by Ray Withers.
Rónán McGrath
Uwe Grimm

Advanced Crystallography at High Pressure

July 19-22, 2009, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China Â
This conference will cover the whole range of activities of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) Commission on High Pressure: Crystal structures and phase transitions, new materials, Earth and planetary science, soft and biological matter, physical and chemical properties, theory and computation, technique developments for high pressure studies on synchrotron, neutron and laboratory-based facilities. The conference will follow the sequence of meeting organized by the IUCr Commission on High Pressure (ESRF 1998, Argonne 1999, Spring-8 2000, Orsay 2002, Berkeley 2003, Saskatoon 2004, Dubna 2006, Oxford 2007).

Topics to be covered:

• Crystal structures and phase transitions
• Magnetic crystallography and physical properties
• Earth and planetary science
• Liquids and non-crystalline materials
• Polymers, proteins and biological systems
• Nanomaterials
• Materials synthesized under high pressures
• Theory and computation
• Neutron, synchrotron and laboratory techniques for high-pressure studies

An International Summer School on Fundamentals and Basic Methods of Crystal Growth was held in Brasov, Romania, 24 August - 29 August 2009. Some photographs are available on the IUCr web site.

Symmetry and Crystallography in Turkish Art and Culture

Satellite Conference of the ECM-25

Istanbul, Turkey, 14-16 August 2009
On occasion of the XXV European Crystallographic Meeting in Istanbul, the IUCr MaThCryst commission, in cooperation with the CrysAC commission, has organized a Satellite conference on Art and Crystallography devoted to the analysis of the crystallographic aspects of Art and Culture in Turkey and neighbouring countries an regions like Middle Asia, Caucasus, Iran, Anatolia, Middle East, including carpet ornaments and kilim frames. The Satellite conference was completed by a workshop do it yourself and a short excursion.