Building capacity in crystallography - The Latin American Crystallographic Association

DIEGO G. LAMAS

Rabat

Congreso; Crystallography for the next generation: the legacy of IYCr; 2015

Unión Internacional de Cristalografía (IUCr)

The history of Crystallography in Latin America is very rich, probably starting with the pioneering work of Prof. Ernesto Galloni in Argentina in the1930?s. As it is impossible for me to summarize it now, I recommend reading Prof. Iris Torriani's report ?Crystallography in Latin America? to get the most relevant information. This excellent report is available at the IUCr website.The efforts of some Latin American crystallographers to work together in some kind of association also started several decades ago. The most important initiative was the Ibero American Crystallographic Group, founded in 1959, which organized several meetings of high scientific level during 35 years. Unfortunately, due to economic problems and the long distances between the countries involved, this group was finally dissolved.After that, many authorities of the IUCr and of the American Crystallographic Association ACA did a great job in order to promote Crystallography in Latin America. For example, Prof. Bill Duax and Prof. Iris Torriani worked hard to encourage the creation of national associations in our region. In particular, Prof. Torriani inspired some young Argentinian crystallographers, including myself, to found the Argentinian Association of Crystallography, AACr, in October 2004. During the 22nd IUCr Congress and General Assembly in Madrid in 2011, several Latin American crystallographers considered the idea of creating a new group, and Dr. Leopoldo Suescun was elected as its coordinator. The AACr invited this incipient group to participate in its VII Annual Meeting, which was going to be held in San Carlos de Bariloche in October-November 2011, with the purpose of discussing future activities. During that meeting, it was decided to organize the First Latin American Meeting of Crystallography in Córdoba, Argentina, as a joint event with the IX Annual Meeting of the AACr in October-November 2013.It was an important event, with the presence of about 180 crystallographers from all over the world, many of them well-recognized in our field, including Prof. Gautham Desiraju, Prof. Claude Lecomte, Prof. Bill Duax and Prof. Iris Torriani, among others. This Meeting included a Latin American Assembly in its program, with the purpose of discussing the organization of the group, and crystallographers from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Chile, México, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela took part in it. On October 31st 2013, this Assembly decided to found the Latin American Crystallographic Association (LACA) and take all the necessary steps to be recognized as a Regional Associate of the IUCr. You can see in the slides the Declaration of Foundation and some pictures of that important moment. I would like to thank Professors Desiraju, Lecomte and Duax for their advice during the discussions and also Prof. Sine Larsen for her help during the organization of this meeting. Finally, last year, in the 23rd IUCr Congress and General Assembly in Montreal, LACA was accepted as a Regional Associate of the IUCr by unanimous decision. In this slide, you can see some photographs of that important moment.The most important objective of the foundation of LACA was, of course, to promote the advancement and the dissemination of Crystallography all over Latin America, following the main guidelines and bylaws of the IUCr, as a regional association. In addition, an important mission is to promote Latin American cooperation in Crystallography, and also the cooperation between our region and others. This means, for example, to facilitate the mobility of Latin American students and researchers. LACA will work jointly with all national associations already established in Latin America and help those that are in the process of organization.