2010 Chemical Crystallography Workshop

McMaster University, Hamilton, ON

May 25 -29

 REGISTRATION DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MAY 7TH !!!

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.

Registration - DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MAY 7TH !!!

The registration application for the the Workshop is now available for download . The completed form should be emailed to Jim Britten ( britten@mcmaster.ca ) by March 25 May 7, 2010. Enrolement is limited, and students will be chosen based on the information on the application form (not first - come - first - served). Successful applicants will be notified on March 29th  immediately and be sent the information required to prepare for the school. The registration fee for academics is $200, to cover the cost of coffee and lunches. More information is available in the flyer (requires Adobe Reader 8 or higher).

Non-academics will be accepted if space is available. The commercial registration fee is $400. A 'non-academic registration form' should be submitted.

Accommodations

Students of the Workshop are responsible for obtaining their own accommodations. A block of residence rooms on campus has been reserved for the meeting. The housing application form and further details are available from McMaster Conference Services.

Food

A number of the campus restaurants are open Monday to Friday the week of the workshop. A summary flyer  is available. There are numerous restaurants just off campus (Main St., King St.).  

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.

It will be impossible to go into great detail on so many topics in such a short time, so we will be relying on a lot of 3D graphics, a lot of examples, and a lot of hands on experience to get the message across. Students will take home copies of the presentations, and some data sets to work on. They will also have results from their own projects. We will schedule time for students to present their research at the end of the workshop. They should be able to handle routine crystal structure analyses after the course.

Details of the program are now available. Course materials and the program can be downloaded by registered attendees.

Sponsors are welcome. Experienced crystallographers who wish to participate should contact Jim Britten directly.

Instructors

The Gang

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IUCr Scientific Freedom Policy Statement. The Organizing Committee of the Chemical Crystallography Workshop shall observe the basic policy of nondiscrimination and affirms the rights of scientists throughout the world to adhere or to associate with international scientific activity without restrictions based on nationality, race, color, age, religion, political philosophy, ethnic origin, citizenship, language, or sex, in accordance with the Statues on the International Council for Science.  At this meeting (or symposium etc) no barriers will exist which would prevent the participation of bona fide scientists.