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The 2008 ACA Summer Course in Small Molecule Crystallography

Summary:

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• Announcement
• Scholarships
• Housing
• Travel
• Additional information
• Course curriculum and schedule
• The invited faculty
• Registration Form

(1) Announcement

The 10-day intensive course will be offered tentatively July 7 through 16, 2008 at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. IUP is located in the town of Indiana about 80 miles east of Pittsburgh, PA. The course will cover both single crystal and powder diffraction and each day will consist of lectures in the morning, hands-on workshops in the afternoon and computer tutorials at night. While some advanced topics will be introduced (Structure solution from powder data, advanced probability methods, solving difficult structures), the curriculum will mostly emphasize fundamental crystallography and no prior crystallographic experience will be assumed. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own single crystal or powder samples for X-ray data collection and are expected to have completed at least undergraduate courses in chemistry, physics and mathematics and are advised to read in advance “Crystal Structure Analysis: A Primer”, by Jenny P. Glusker and Kenneth N. Trueblood, Oxford Univ. Press (1985).

The organizers aim for a total of 24 attendees, who in past years have come from the U.S. and abroad from academia (students and faculty), government and corporate institutions. There will be at least 12 experienced teaching faculty present. Tuition will be $250 (or $750 for applicants from corporate labs). Student apartment housing at IUP (including breakfast and lunch) is available for an additional $400 ($650 or $1,150 for corporate labs). Approximately 12 student scholarships will be offered (exceptional undergraduate students will be considered) and will consist of a waiver of tuition and living costs. The scholarships will be awarded based on the student’s (1) scientific ability, (2) expected benefits from the course and (3) skills in English. We encourage applications from Latin America.

Instruments at IUP will include two Bruker-Nonius CAD4 single crystal diffractometers, a Bruker D8 Advance and a Rigaku Miniflex powder diffractometer. In the past three years, Rigaku-Americas brought a SCXmini X-ray Crystallographic System to the IUP laboratory. Students will also have access to the Duquesne University X-ray Facility which has a Bruker APEX II single crystal diffractometer and a PANalytical X'Pert Pro powder diffractometer. The IUP computer facilities are excellent and each student will have access to an individual computer during the nightly tutorials. Access will also be available to the Cambridge structural data base and the ICDD powder diffraction data base. The software used in the course will be Bruker-Nonius SHELXTL, Rigaku Americas CrystalClear, GSAS/EXPGUI, FullProf, CRYSFIRE and CRYSTMOL.

The Course registration form can be obtained from the ACA web site at http://www.hwi.buffalo.edu/ACA/. Completed forms must be received before May 26th, 2008 by Prof. Charles H. Lake, Chemistry Department, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA 15705, USA or electronically lake@iup.edu for full consideration. Further information will be updated on the web site or can be obtained from lake@iup.edu or craven@icubed.com

We shall observe the basic policy of nondiscrimination and affirm 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 Statutes on the International Council of Scientific Unions. At this Course, no barriers will exist which would prevent the participation of bona fide scientists. Foreign students may be accepted early to provide extra time to process VISA's.

(2) Scholarships.

Up to twelve student scholarships will be offered (exceptional undergraduate students will be considered) and will consist of a waiver of tuition and campus housing costs. The scholarships will be awarded based on the student’s (1) scientific ability, (2) expected benefits from the course and (3) skills in English. We aim to provide at least two scholarships specifically for Latin American graduate students. Modest travel support may be requested and will be awarded based upon need. 

(3) Housing.

Campus housing will be available at IUP in Campus Towers on Maple St, near the corner with Wayne Ave (see map below). Housing will consist of IUP graduate student apartments. Attendees who are awarded scholarships will be lodged in double-occupancy, that is, in an apartment with a bedroom having twin beds.

All apartments have a living room, one bedroom and a bathroom and are air-conditioned. They have a refrigerator and stove and the usual furniture. Attendees who plan to use the kitchen facilities will need to bring utensils, plates, etc. The beds will have linen but it is recommended that attendees should bring a towel and an extra pillow (the IUP pillows are relatively uncomfortable!) and an alarm clock. Attendees who are awarded scholarships will not be charged for housing. For others, the cost will be a total of $400 including a cafeteria breakfast and lunch. On arrival (Sunday afternoon, July 6th) attendees can park next to the Towers. Temporary permits for parking elsewhere will be issued later. A supermarket and the restaurants of downtown Indiana are within walking distance.

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