ACA Summer Course

[John P. Rose Ph.D.]

______________________________________________________________

                   ACA/IUCR COURSE FOR CRYSTALLOGRAPHERS

The sixth annual ACA Summer Course for Crystallographers will be held
from
August 4 through August 14, 1997 at the University of Georgia, Athens
GA.

The intent of this course is to provide a selected group of attendees a
quick
and intense introduction to the basics of crystal structure
determination and
analysis: how to collect X-ray diffraction data, how to use associated
software
to determine and refine a crystal structure, and how to analyze the
results.
The course will focus on improving the participants' basic understanding
of
crystallography, with particular emphasis on avoiding some of the common
pitfalls in structural work. It will use a revised edition of the
detailed and
extensive notes prepared by the lecturers. These notes, and the lectures
and
hands-on experience with area detectors, diffractometers and software,
will
give attendees  an opportunity to review the basic mathematics and
physics
behind structure analysis, and to become familiar with various "tricks
of the
trade" and with some of the best modern practices.

The University of Georgia (UGA) has equipment from all three major
vendors
(Enraf Nonius and Siemens diffractometers in Chemistry and Rigaku,
MarResearch
and a Siemens area detectors in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology). 
The
associated software is also operational in each of these departments.

The course will emphasize the basics of crystallography, and will be
divided
approximately equally between lectures and laboratory sessions. It will
involve
primarily the determination of small-molecule structures, with samples
brought
by participants. For those especially interested in macromolecular
structure
determination, additional lectures will focus on protein crystal growth
and
phase determination, but there will be no opportunity for practical work
in
this area. The lecturers will be the two co-organisers:  Prof. Bi-Cheng
Wang
(UGA) and Dr. Robert Sparks (Consultant, Siemens Corp.), together with
Prof.
Bryan Craven (University of Pittsburgh), Dr. Richard E. Marsh (CalTech)
Prof.
Ward Robinson (Canterbury University, New Zealand), Prof. Wally Cordes
(University of Arkansas), Prof. Gary Newton (UGA) and Dr. John Rose
(UGA). For
the macromolecular component the lecturer will be Prof. B. C. Wang
(UGA).

Graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, service crystallographers and
crystallographers from corporate and other laboratories are invited to
apply
for admission, which will be limited to about 35. Attendees should,
preferably,
have had some prior experience in small-molecule or protein
crystallography, as
presented for example in "Crystal Structure Analysis: A Primer," by
Glusker &
Trueblood.

Tuition for the course will be $600. Three full-tuition scholarships and
seven
half-tuition scholarships will be provided on a competitive basis. The
criteria
for these awards are (1) expected benefits from the course; (2)
qualifications;
(3) motivation. 

Accommodations have been reserved at UGA Student Housing for
participants, from
the evening of August 3; the rate for these air-conditioned rooms will
be $30
per day single, or $17 per day double occupancy. Student housing is only
a
short walk from where the lectures will be given, and an equally short
walk
from the sites of all the X-ray equipment that will be used.

Applications should be made on forms available from Prof. Bi-Cheng Wang,
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia,
Athens, GA 30602. Telephone: 706-542-1747; Fax: 706-542-3077. 

Forms are also available via E-mail from wang at BCL1.biochem.uga.edu and
the WWW
from or www.uga.edu/~biocryst/ACA97.html. 

APPLICATION FORMS MUST BE COMPLETED AND RETURNED TO PROF. WANG NO LATER
THAN
MAY 31, 1997.
      ______________________________________________________________

John P. Rose 
Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602
E-mail rose at BCL4.biochem.uga.edu
http://www.uga.edu/~biocryst