Crystallography matters ... more!

An ancient tradition links the study of crystallography to this city, which during the sixteenth century saw the Medici family attracting on the banks of the Arno river Nicolas Steno, who stated the first law of crystallography. In the same period the Medici started to collect some crystalline specimens, first nucleus of one of the most precious and ancient collections of natural crystals.

The program selected by the Scientific and Organizing committees is thought to support the participation and contacts between members of the two groups involved, enabling the exchange of ideas in scientific fields (such as crystal growth, methods and techniques for structure determination, molecular recognition, polymer and material science, molecular medicine and structural biology), different and sometimes seemingly distant, but all associated with crystallography.

Thus, a hundred years after the international awards for the fundamental importance of studing matter by means of crystals, we are confident that Florence, the cradle of Renaissance ideas, will be the venue in which scientists from different fields will innovate and find stimuli for growth and collaboration.