Crystallography matters ... more!

Crystals - known to everybody as gems, snow crystals, or salt grains - are widespread in the nature around us. The investigation of their structure and properties means looking inside the intimate of atom geometries - a look contributing to the scientific development of chemistry, solid state physics, Earth sciences, and even, surprisingly, biology and medicine.

A century has passed since the crystals first revealed their secrets. In the meantime crystallography has become the pillar of the atomic and molecular sciences, showing us the structure of DNA, allowing the comprehension and the development of computer memories, visualizing the formation of proteins within cells, and yielding ever new materials and drugs.

This is why on July 2012, resolution 66/284 of the General Assembly of the United Nations declared 2014 - after 100 years from the awarding of the first Nobel Prize for the discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals - the International Year of Crystallography.

The exhibition organized at the University of Padova wishes to celebrate the theoretical and applied aspects of crystallography on the occasion of the International Year.

See the photos of the exhibition taken during the Opening Ceremony on 5 October 2013

From gigantic and exotic cave formations to everyday ingredients such as salt and sugar, crystals are all around us. In our latest special exhibition – Crystals: Beauty, Science, Structure – we look at the history of the study of crystals, an endeavour which has prized their mysterious and natural beauty, as well as probed their fundamental atomic structures.

In the middle ages, natural minerals were thought to carry occult properties, perhaps suggested by their startling array of colours and geometric forms. These regular forms promised a special insight into nature and from the 17th century onwards they were exactly measured and their symmetries exhaustively classified.

At the turn of the 20th century even deeper secrets were illuminated by the ground-breaking technique of x-ray crystallography. Today, crystallography is the hidden science behind many aspects of our lives.

This year, 2013, celebrates the centenary of the pioneering work of father and son William and Lawrence Bragg, which laid the foundations for the science of x-ray crystallography. The International Year of Crystallography takes place during 2014.

EXPLORE UT is the "Biggest Open House in Texas".  It is a day-long celebration during which the University of Texas at Austin opens the doors of its campus to the state.  On March 1st, 2014, Explore UT will feature close to 400 events across campus including performances, exhibits, lectures and activities for the entire family.  Dr. Marvin Hackert, professor of biosciences, will present an exhibit titled "Crystals and Crystallography" which includes posters, demonstrations and experiments on numerous topics including crystal growth, symmetry, optical transforms, and a variety of models of small and large molecules will be on display, including 3D printed models.

See the photo gallery 

“L’ENIGMA ESCHER- PARADOSSI GRAFICI TRA ARTE E GEOMETRIA” is the title of a major retrospective exhibition of the work of Maurits Cornelis Escher, on display in Reggio Emilia until 23 March 2014.

The exhibition presents the work of the Dutch graphic artist from his debut on the scene to his latest years, bringing together 130 works, including lithographs, etchings and drawings, on loan from museums, libraries and national institutes – among which the Galleria d’Arte Moderna of Rome and the Fondazione Wolfsoniana of Genoa – as well as from some important, private collections.

A special section is dedicated to tilings, with a panel illustrating the 17 crystallographic planar groups and some original examples of Escher's plane-filling drawings.

The exhibition will then move to Caraglio (Cuneo, Italy), where it will be on display from 29 March to 29 June.

The exhibition is included in the events for IYCr2014 celebrations in Italy. 

Read the press release mentioning the connection of the exhibition with IYCr2014 (in Italian)

The exhibition "Living with crystal" (original title in Slovenian: Živeti s kristali), organized on the occasion of the International Year of Crystallography, will be open from 13 February 2014 to 11 January 2015 at the Slovenian Museum of Natural History, Ljubljana. 

On display: Photographs of minerals, Crystal drawings, Mineral and crystal collections, Jewellery, Fluorescent minerals, Interactive presentation of minerals and rocks on Biedermeier tables, Interactive play "Umek the Mineralogist", Microscopic world of crystals.

Authors: Miha Jeršek, Mirjan Žorž, Breda Činč Juhant, Katarina Fuchs

This year's exhibition at Carolina Rediviva, Platonic Solids and Quasicrystals, is all about crystallography and shows how this science has been perceived over time. By collaborating with the Museum of Evolution at Uppsala University, we can exhibit books side by side with real crystals, models of crystals and instruments that have been used to measure the angles of these strange formations that seem to have been cut and polished by human hand whereas in fact they have been shaped by uniform atomic structures.

Welcome on a beautiful journey through this collection of historical scientific books and artifacts.

In occasione delle celebrazioni mondiali per l’Anno Internazionale della Cristallografia, il Dipartimento di Chimica, il Dipartimento di Fisica e Scienze della Terra "Macedonio Melloni", il Laboratorio di Strutturistica “Mario Nardelli” dell’Università di Parma e l’Istituto IMEM del CNR, i cui laboratori sono all’avanguardia nel campo della ricerca internazionale in ambito cristallografico, intendono organizzare una giornata dedicata alla Scuole Superiori per presentare le applicazioni più moderne e di frontiera della diffrattometria dei raggi X. La manifestazione si terrà il 3 marzo 2014 al Campus e farà parte di un insieme di celebrazioni che si terranno nello stesso periodo a livello nazionale.

Programma:

9.30 – 10.00 Inaugurazione, Saluto del Rettore
Presentazione ai Docenti delle attività per l’Anno della Cristallografia a Parma

10.00 - 10.30 I cristalli, la chimica e le scienze della vita
Prof. Alessia Bacchi (Dipartimento di Chimica)

10.30 - 11.00 Un secolo di onde e cristalli e le applicazioni nel mondo dei minerali
Prof. Mario Tribaudino  (Dipartimento di Fisica e Scienze della Terra)

11.00 - 11.30 Intervallo

11.30 – 12.00 I cristalli e la scienza dei materiali
Prof. Gianluca Calestani (Dipartimento di Chimica)

12.00 - 12.30 Come si fanno i cristalli
Prof. Roberto Fornari (Dipartimento di Fisica e Scienze della Terra)

Download the poster | See the photo gallery on "La Gazzetta di Parma" | Read a report  

Prof. Robert Huber, Nobel Laureate, Max-Planck Institute for Biochemistry will be kickstarting the IYCR celebrations in CDRI through a lecture in this one day symposium to be held on 3rd March. Lectures by Dr A.K. Shaw, Dr R. Ravishankar and Dr T. Thakur are also on the agenda. A student interaction session to ignite interest in the area is a part of the symposium.

Download poster (PDF format)

Many initiatives have been and are being organized to involve schoolchildren at Mudaliarpet, Pondicherry (India) into crystallography on the occasion of IYCr2014.

1. At first, the students were given a brief introduction on various crystals, which made them think about how crystals are formed.

2. Following this, a team of students were selected for a project on Crystal Growth - investigating the size, shape and number of crystals formed, taking various substances such as table salt, sugar, epsom salt, borax, potassium nitrate and alum. 

3. A Radio Talk was given by the teacher and the students on the "International Year of Crystallography".

4. A lecture was given on the topic to the school students, following which a demonstration -cum- exhibition, along with a poster presentation by the teacher is to be arranged for view for the public around the school locale. 

5. A next attempt to telecast the above in the television is made.

6. Students of our school are participating in the IYCr2014 Crystal Growing Competition. 

The SPring-8 Conference 2014 will be held at Grand Front Osaka North Building 4F on 7 March 2014.

Programme of the events

21 February 2014, 1.00 pm, Promotion Hall
Quasi-periodic crystals - a paradigm shift in crystallography
Opening Lecture by Dan Shechtman, 2011 Nobel Prize in chemistry
Registration for this event is no longer possible.

11 March 2014, 8.00 pm, Zoological Institute
With von Laue and Bragg's in the cradle of modern crystallography
Luc Van Meervelt

8 April 2014, 8.00 pm, Zoological Institute
From plastics to food: order and disorder in soft matter
Bart Goderis

9 September 2014, 8.00 pm, Zoological Institute
X-ray crystallography to unravel the three-dimensional structure of proteins
Chris Ulens 

21 October 2014, 8.00 pm, Zoological Institute
Crystallography with nuclei: neutron and gamma rays
Kris Temst

13 December 2014, 3.00 pm, Aula Pieter De Somer
Giant Crystals: The science behind the beauty
Final Lecture - Christmas Lecture by Juanma Garcia Ruiz 

The Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro hosts the Opening Ceremony of the Portuguese celebrations for IYCr2014 on 12 March 2014.

The programme of the event is available here 

Annual Meeting of the Czech Society for Structural Biology

Usual participation: ca. 120 mainly young participants

Co-organized by the Czech and Slovak Crystallographic Association.

A special session on crystallography is scheduled.

La giornata inaugurale si terrà presso l'Università di Salerno il 13 Marzo 2014, nell'Aula Magna del Campus di Fisciano. La mattina sarà dedicata agli studenti degli Istituti superiori e il pomeriggio agli studenti, ai dottorandi e ai ricercatori dell'Università di Salerno.

Programma

10:30-11:00 Dr.ssa Consiglia Tedesco (Università degli Studi di Salerno) Introduzione e presentazione delle iniziative italiane

11:00-12:00 Proiezione del film-documentario "I cristalli giganti di Naica" diretto da Javier Trueba, scritto e presentato da J. Manuel Garcia Ruiz

12:00-13:00 Dibattito sul film

15:00-16:00 Prof. Lelio Mazzarella (Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II") L'impatto della cristallografia: dalle piccole molecole alle macromolecole biologiche

16:00-17:00 Proiezione del film-documentario "I cristalli giganti di Naica" di Javier Trueba, diretto da Javier Trueba, scritto e presentato da J. Manuel Garcia Ruiz

17:00-17:30 Dibattito sul film e conclusioni

A one-day seminar is planned to be organized by the Department of Chemistry, Osmania University College for Women, Koti, Hyderabad, India in view of the International Year of Crystallography to bring awareness and create interest in the young minds of the students through lectures by eminent scientists and academicians. This seminar is further aimed to cover various branches of chemistry that deal with the application of X-ray diffraction studies ranging from nanomaterial characterization to elucidating the structures of various polymeric, coordination and organic compounds. We are glad to celebrate this historic year and want to be a part of it too.

Programme of the event | Invitation | See photos of the event

On March 17th, 2014 the Laboratory of Biocrystallography of KU Leuven will organize a one-day symposium to showcase the ongoing structural biology research at the KU Leuven and beyond. This will include the BIOMED Distinguished Lecture by Michael G. Rossmann, Hanley Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, USA.

Let us Crystallize with World 

A seminar by the eminent crystallographer of the country Prof. Dr. Muhammad Nawaz Tahir is organized by the Department of Chemistry, University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, AK, Pakistan. The seminar will be attended by the researchers from biological sciences, physical sciences as well as computer sciences.

The general utility seminar will be followed by a workshop on "Use of Crystallography in Chemistry" on March 18, 2014 specifically for the chemists.

 
 A photo of the event at the Department of Chemistry, University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, AK, Pakistan

The scope of this 22nd DGK Annual Meeting is to show the diversity of crystallography as an interdisciplinary science. We are very glad that a number of renowed scientists, representing all different fields of crystallography, have accepted our invitation for a plenary lecture. It is our intention to offer researchers, feeling home within the interdisciplinary field of crystallography, an inspiring scientific platform.

The meeting will be preceded by a special IYCr2014 Symposium on 17 March.

The International Year of Crystallography is a major events we are celebrating here, in Marseille (France).

Many actions have been organized by "l'Association de Cristallographie d'Aix-Marseille" created in september 2013 (http://acam.cristal-provence.fr/).

The opening day of the International Year of Crystallography in the region Provence Alpes Cotes d'Azur will take place on March 18, 2014 at "La Maison de la Région" (61 Canebière, 13001 Marseille) in the presence of our partners and representatives of institutions and local authorities.

Programme:
- At 6:00 p.m., a presentation of various regional events which will mark the year 2014 will be followed by a conference of Alain Baronnet, emeritus professor at the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Centre Marseille-CINAM (CNRS / AMU), entitled "Quand la Terre, l’Homme et les animaux se concurrencent pour faire des cristaux" (When the Earth, Man and animals compete to create crystals)
- At 7:00 p.m., the opening ceremony will involve representatives of our partners and communities.

During a cocktail, part of the exhibition "Voyage dans le cristal" (Journey into the crystal) by Jean Louis Hodeau will be presented. We wish to make people discover the questions raised by the crystal, the scientific approaches provoked and its importance in our daily lives. This event is open to the public, come and join us!

La Cristallographie : Histoire, Art et Applications

Les Nations Unies ont décidé en Assemblée Générale le 03 juillet 2012 de déclarer l’année 2014 Année Mondiale de la cristallographie comme une résolution présentée par le Maroc. Cette manifestation a pour objectifs de:

• Sensibiliser le public à la cristallographie et les informer sur les applications menant aux développements technologiques les plus avancés dans notre société moderne.
• Inciter et encourager l’apprentissage et la connaissance de la cristallographie  par les jeunes, ceci  à travers des expositions, des conférences publiques et des démonstrations dans les écoles et universités.
• Illustrer l'universalité et la pluridisciplinarité de cette science.
• Intensifier les initiatives de renforcement des capacités en cristallographie, en Afrique puis en Asie et en Amérique latine.
• Favoriser la collaboration internationale entre scientifiques du monde entier, en particulier les collaborations Nord-Sud et Sud-Sud.
• Promouvoir l'éducation et la recherche en cristallographie, et renforcer ses liens avec les sciences.

La Semaine Scientifique et Culturelle de l'Etudiant (SEMET19), manifestation incontournable, créée à la Faculté des Sciences Semlalia, est un espace majeur pour faire vivre la communication scientifique dans notre université. Parmi ses objectifs ont dénombre: aider à découvrir la recherche scientifique, valoriser les actions de la culture scientifique et contribuer aux débats sur des questions scientifiques, culturelles, historiques, artistiques et éthiques.
Son rôle primordial est aussi de promouvoir les compétences des étudiants par la réalisation des posters, d’ exposés, de procédés expérimentaux, de pièces de théâtre scientifiques sous l’encadrement des enseignants chercheurs ainsi que celles des associations savantes tel que l’Association Marocaine de Cristallographie.

Cette semaine sera marquée par des activités diverses tel que des conférences, ateliers de formation, une pièce de théâtre scientifique, un concours de journalisme scientifique. Cette semaine se clôturera sur l’organisation d’une grande cérémonie de remise des prix aux meilleures réalisations des étudiants.

Download the poster of the event

The workshop aims at covering both the theoretical and practical aspects of the refinement of crystalline structures of synthetic and natural materials by the Rietveld method, starting from powder X-ray diffraction patterns. 

This workshop is designed for Master students, PhD students, academic and industrial researchers.

See the photo gallery 

Nel 1914 Max Von Laue veniva insignito del premio Nobel per la fisica per aver dimostrato che i raggi X vengono diffratti, ovvero deviati in specifiche direzioni, dai cristalli. Questo consentì poi a W.H. e W.L. Bragg di sfruttare questo fenomeno per rivelare la struttura dei materiali cristallini a livello atomico, e questo valse loro il premio Nobel per la fisica nel 1915. Questa scoperta ha guidato fino ad oggi molti dei principali progressi negli ambiti della fisica, della chimica, della biologia e della medicina. Nel celebrare l’Anno Internazionale della Cristallografia 2014, un evento mondiale dichiarato dall’ONU e coordinato dall'UNESCO e dalla IUCr, gli interventi programmati presso l’Istituto Lombardo illustreranno come, fin dagli anni ’20 del 1900, la cristallografia milanese ha contribuito alla ricerca internazionale, spaziando dalle scienze della Terra, alla chimica, alle scienze della vita, fino allo studio sui polimeri coronato dal premio Nobel a Giulio Natta.

The programme includes:

- growing of blue vitriol crystals
- destroying of calc-spar rhombohedra into small ones
- crystals under the microscope
- minimal facets from soapsuds
- building of paperboard crystal polyhedra
- closest packing of ping pong balls competition

The National Seminar on Crystallography (43A) will be held at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali during 28-30 March, 2014.

The year 2014 is being celebrated as the International Year of Crystallography (IYCr2014) to mark 100 years since the award of Nobel Prize to Max von Laue for the discovery of X-ray diffractionby by crystals. This national seminar at IISER Mohali will be the first of the three national seminars to be held in India in 2014. The National Programme Committee and the Local Organizing Committee are in the process of organizing this conference with the help of various funding agencies. The scientists, post-docs and the students working in the different areas of crystallography in the country will be able to present their exciting results and will be able to exchange their idea to enrich their view and knowledge. The conference will have equally balanced oral and poster presentations in the areas of macromolecular and small molecule crystallography and the application of crystallography in materials science. The seminar is supported by the Indian Crystallographic Association.

Download the conference flyer 

Following the great success obtained in Reggio Emilia, the exhibition “L’ENIGMA ESCHER- PARADOSSI GRAFICI TRA ARTE E GEOMETRIA”, a major retrospective exhibition of the work of Maurits Cornelis Escher, will be on display at "Il Filatoio di Caraglio" (Cuneo, Italy) from 29 March to 29 June 2014.

The exhibition presents the work of the Dutch graphic artist from his debut on the scene to his latest years, bringing together 130 works, including lithographs, etchings and drawings, on loan from museums, libraries and national institutes – among which the Galleria d’Arte Moderna of Rome and the Fondazione Wolfsoniana of Genoa – as well as from some important, private collections.

A special section is dedicated to tilings, with a panel illustrating the 17 crystallographic planar groups and some original examples of Escher's plane-filling drawings.

The exhibition is included in the events for IYCr2014 celebrations in Italy. 

Read the press release on the Reggio Emilia exhibition mentioning the connection with IYCr2014 (in Italian)

The National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) organizes NSTDA Annual Conference (NAC) to present the research and development (R&D) progress of NSTDA's and its partnership organizations' researchers every year. NAC2014 also celebrates IYCr2014 by including the work of Thai researchers relating to crystallography. The IYCr2014 booklet "Crystallography Matters" translated into Thai will be given to HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn on her presiding over the opening ceremony of NAC2014 on March 31, 2014 at Thailand Science Park, Pathumtani