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IUCr 2020/2021 in Prague

After being rescheduled from its original 2020 date, the next IUCr meeting will now take place August 14–22, 2021 in Prague, Czech Republic.
The IUCr 2021 will also feature Berlin’s bid for the IUCr 2029 meeting, with tentative plans for members of the organizing committee to attend the meeting in person.

ECM-32 in Vienna

The bid to bring the IUCr2029 to Berlin was represented at the ECM-32 this week. We hope that you got a chance to pick up a supporting button or pen! See you all at IUCr2020 in Prag in a year!

IUCr2029-Berlin team members Christian Lehmann and Udo Heinemann

IUCr2020-Prag organizer Radomír Kužel with IUCr2029-Berlin team members Udo Heinemann and Christian Lehmann

IUCr-2029 in Berlin?

adapted from the DGK Mitteilungen, issue 48 of the German Society for Crystallography (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kristallographie)

Of the previous 24 congresses of the IUCr, only one took place in Germany: the 13th congress 1984 in Hamburg. According to the current plans, the 25th congress will take place in Prague in 2020, the 26th in Melbourne in 2023, and the 27th potentially in Xian, China. IUCr congresses are attended by many scientists from all over the world and represent the largest international exhibition of crystallographic research. Approximately 2800 participants came to Madrid in 2011, 2750 went to Montreal in2014, and 1750 to Hyderabad in 2017. In that context, the idea emerged that it might be Germany’s turn to host again. An IUCr congress in Germany would offer the unique opportunity to welcome the international community of crystallographers in Germany, and to present the far-reaching activities that are being conducted in Germany in this field to an international audience.

Over time and with some consideration, the plan began to take shape and the idea—that the DGK should apply to become the host of the 28th congress—was introduced to the DGK board in their December session. The idea was received very positively, and Berlin was favored as a possible venue. Everyone is, of course, aware that such an enterprise always entails a financial risk. However, this risk for the DGK can potentially be staved via the creation of a not-for-profit GmbH. Finally, the DGK board instructed one of us (Manfred S. Weiss) to assemble a team and initiate the first steps to launch this campaign.

These preliminary steps encompass the compilation of the basic financial parameters on the basis of previous congresses, the design of a conference logo, and the purchase of the domain www.iucr2029.org, up to the planned presentation of a preliminary application at the 25th congress in Prague. There, we will represent DGK with a booth, and present our plan—to bring the 2029 congress to Berlin and to Germany—to the world for the first time. An important intermediate step was the presentation of the IUCr 2029 idea at the DGK conference in Essen. Over 150 conference participants signed up in the list of supporters and are now proud wearers of the IUCr 2029 supporter button. Additional intermediate steps include the sounding-out of the plans of other crystallographic societies in Europe, as well as the possible presentation of the idea at the ECM in Oviedo.

In conclusion, we would like to note that we are not a closed circle: everyone, who would like to contribute to these efforts and wants to help bring the IUCr conference 2029 to Berlin is cordially invited to join us.

The IUCr 2029 team: Julia Dshemuchadse, Udo Heinemann, Christian Lehmann & Manfred S. Weiss