Crystallographic Information Fiesta

2019-05-12

Registrations are open for the AIC International Crystallography School 2019, entitled "Crystallographic Information Fiesta", which will be held in Naples, Italy, on 29 August to 3 September as a satellite event of MISCA 2019 (Meeting of the Italian and Spanish Crystallographic Associations).

The School is organized by the Commission on Crystallographic Teaching of the Italian Crystallographic Association (AIC) in partnership with several IUCr bodies [IUCr Journals, IUCr Data, Committee for the Maintenance of the CIF Standard (COMCIFS), Committee on Data (CommDat), International Tables for Crystallography] and crystallographic databases (ICDD, CCDC, PDBe, ICSD, BCS).

AICS2019 offers an intensive course in Crystallographic Information, covering the extraction, dissemination and use of scientific knowledge from the structure determination experiment to database-driven discovery. This school will emphasise to students the need to collect the most complete and meaningful raw data, extract the most reliable information they can, critically review the structural model they have derived, and disseminate that information in a complete and verifiable manner through the twin channels of scientific publication and curated database deposition.

The Scientific Programme of AICS2019 will consist of lectures delivered by internationally leading scholars and supervised tutorials (14 h) on crystallographic software and databases. The scientific path of the school will include 15 hours of hands-on tutorials and partly take place in two parallel streams dedicated to the crystallographic study of structures with small cell parameters (molecular and extended solids) and of macromolecules, respectively.

Major crystallographic database organisations (Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre, Protein Data Bank, International Centre for Diffraction Data, Inorganic Crystal Structure Database) and the Bilbao Crystallographic Server are directly involved in the organization and teaching sessions. Dedicated lectures and tutorials are included in the programme. A lecture on how to plan and design a synchrotron experiment is also included as part of the LAAAMP Colloquium Programme (https://laaamp.iucr.org).

The School is mainly directed at PhD students and young researchers coming from both University and Industry. In order to foster active interaction among students and instructors, the School is restricted to at most 50 qualified and selected participants. Selections will be made on CVs and other relevant aspects of the candidates’ application.

In a touristic destination such as Naples and during the school holiday period, we are making every effort to keep REGISTRATION FEES as low as possible, and we are able to offer a very convenient package including 5 nights accommodation in a 4* hotel, lunches and coffee-breaks at 490 euros. Moreover, BURSARIES are available to cover registration fee as well as travel costs, in full or partially.

DEADLINE for pre-registration and bursary application is 19 May 2019.

Serena Tarantino, Paolo Lotti, Chiara Massera, Paolo Pio Mazzeo
AIC Commission on Crystallographic Teaching