Conference of the French Crystallographic Association

The biennial national conference of the French Crystallographic Association will be held this year at the Corum in Montpellier from July 2 to 5. It will bring together 250 scientists working in the field of crystallography. These scientists, primarily biologists, geologists, chemists, and physicists, create, study, or use crystals in their research to investigate the correlations between atomic structure and properties or functions. The local organizing committee is representative of this community, with its eight members drawn from seven Montpellier-based laboratories (LPHI, Géosciences, ICGM, CBS, IEM, IGF, and L2C). This conference is the largest gathering of researchers and engineers working in the field of crystallography in France.

The primary goal of the conference is to provide a unique opportunity to establish new contacts, foster new collaborations, and strengthen ties among members of the crystallography community. The conference is organized around 14 micro-symposia, 4 plenary lectures, presentations by the Guinier Prize winner and the thesis award winners, and a presentation by an external (foreign) organization.

A second objective is to bring together young researchers, postdocs, and doctoral students on the eve of the conference for a satellite event titled “Bringing Crystallography to Life: Industry, Research, and Education,” which will focus in particular on the interactions between private and academic research and the crucial role of education in this context.

The third objective will be to reach out to the general public: the highlight of the conference will be a lecture open to all, dedicated to Jacques Curie, brother of Pierre Curie and brother-in-law of Marie Curie. He was a professor at the University of Montpellier, yet seems to have been forgotten by the collective memory. Yet he is the co-discoverer—along with Pierre—of the piezoelectric effect in quartz crystals, an effect that is still used today in countless everyday objects.