To recognise the outstanding achievements of the late Dr Andrew Parkin in his roles as scientist and teacher, the YCG holds an annual Parkin Lecture at the YCG satellite meeting. The YCG satellite directly precedes the BCA Spring Meeting, which this year takes place at the University of Warwick from 26 – 29 March 2018. The prize lecture is awarded to a Young Crystallographer who has been recognised for outstanding contributions to promoting science, raising public awareness of science, teaching crystallography/science or showing originality in outreach and teaching activities.

Friday 26th January is the deadline for nominations by peers and/or supervisors. If you know someone deserving of this award, please nominate them! Full details can be found here.

The abstract deadline for the BCA Spring Meeting is only 10 day away now!

Please submit your abstracts here for Friday the 26th of January.

Remember that all abstracts for the YCG Satellite Meeting are submitted as posters for both the YCG and the Main Meeting. Oral presentations at the YCG Satellite Meeting will be based on the submitted Poster abstracts. As many authors as possible will be given the opportunity to make an Oral presentation in addition to their Poster presentation.

If you are a Young Crystallographer (YC) submitting an abstract to the Main Meeting, please identify yourself the submission process! We are trialling this to gauge YC participation throughout the Spring Meeting and to offer the option to present your work at the YCG Satellite Meeting as well as the Main Meeting.

Good Luck!

Bursaries to attend crystallographic related meetings including the BCA Spring Meeting are available now. These are open to PhD students, Postdocs, and Independent Research Fellows.

The next deadline for application for the BCA’s ABBF bursaries is 31st January 2018.

This is for conferences beginning March 2018 to June 2018 and applications will only be considered for meetings/conferences, which begin approximately six weeks after the deadline. This allows time to process applications.

For more information and how to apply please follow this link: www.crystallography.org.uk/prizes/bursaries/abbf-bursaries/

EXTENDED REGISTRATION – 13th November

Registration for the BCA IG/CCG joint Autumn 2017 meeting on 21st and 22nd November, at Downing College in Cambridge closes on very soon! The aim of the meeting is to discuss the design of crystalline products and the prediction of properties from pharmaceuticals to porous materials.

This promises to be an exciting meeting with session topics on

• Crystal Engineering
• Property Control & Prediction
• Crystallisation & Crystallisability
• Pharmaceutical Product Design
• Plus a focussed early career session.

Confirmed speaker include Mike Zaworotko (Limerick), Simon Lawrence (Cork), Vijay Srirambhatla (Strathclyde), Andrew Bond (Cambridge), Aurora Cruz-Cabeza (Manchester), Monika Warzecha (Strathclyde), Graeme Day (Southampton).

Registration for the meeting closes on 13th Nov! We hope to see you at the meeting.

Registration link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/design-of-crystalline-products-igccg-joint-autumn-meeting-tickets-35631083530?utm_term=eventurl_text

The joint CCG/IG Autumn Meeting 2017 will be held on 21st – 22nd November 2017 at Downing College, University of Cambridge.

The theme is ‘Design of Crystalline Products’.

Session topics include: Crystal Engineering, Property Control & Prediction, Crystallisation & Crystallisability, Pharmaceutical Product Design plus a focused early career session.

Concession registration rate available for students – £90

Flyer with more information can be found Here.

Registration details can be found Here.

See you there!

HERCULES is a European course for PhD students and young researchers using Neutrons and Synchrotron Radiation for applications in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Hard & Soft Condensed Matter.

The 1-month school (25 February-30 March, 2018) includes lectures (60%), hands-on practicals and tutorials at partner institutes (Elettra and FERMI in Trieste, Italy, ESRF, ILL in Grenoble, Soleil and LLB in Paris-Saclay, PSI in Villigen, Switzerland) and Grenoble Laboratories (CEA, CNRS, EMBL, IBS).

The school includes a common part and two parallel sessions:
– Biomolecular, soft condensed matter structure & dynamics
– Physics and chemistry of condensed matter

Bursaries/reduced costs
– A limited number of bursaries will be available either to reduce registration fees or cover travel costs.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION: 15 October, 2017

More information
• Hercules website: http://hercules-school.eu/
• Full list of lectures: http://hercules-school.eu/24-session-program.htm
• Contact email: hercules@hercules-school.eu

Several members of the current YCG committee are due to finish their term at this year’s AGM. Consequently we are currently looking for new and enthusiastic members to become involved in the committee. These positions are a great way to be connected with the crystallographic community, but generally do not require much in the way of time commitment. The positions currently available are:

– Deputy Chair
– BSG Group Representative
– Ordinary Member (3 positions available)

Nominations for these positions need to be supported by two other YCG members, which should send an email to the YCG secretary, Elliot Carrington (elliot.carrington@sheffield.ac.uk). The AGM will be held on Monday 10th April during the YCG Satellite meeting of the upcoming BCA Spring Meeting in Lancaster

You can still become involved in the committee even if you are unable to attend this year’s AGM.

If anyone has any queries about the positions please feel free to get in contact with Elliot or the rest of the committee. Full details of the current committee and their contact details can be found at escg.crystallography.org.uk/the-committee/

Thanks and best wishes,
Elliot Carrington
Secretary / Treasurer YCG

The YCG is chairing a joint session with the CCG during the main meeting.
This interactive session will discuss problematic crystal structures that can be hard to interpret and publish.
After the opening keynote talk by Dr. Iñigo J. Vitórica-Yrezábal (University of Manchester), the session is open for anyone to describe structural results that raise the session title question.
This is a great opportunity for young crystallographers to share their work, where they can interact with a friendly audience, who with years of experience will provide constructive advice.
Problems might include charge imbalance or other chemical issues, poor resolution or data completeness, complicated disorder, highly restrained models, unexplained residual electron density, etc.
A formal abstract is not required, but please contact the session organisers (Claire Hobday, c.hobday@ed.ac.uk or William Lewis, william.lewis@nottingham.ac.uk) in advance of the meeting (as soon as possible!) if you wish to contribute.