European Crystallographic Computing Forum
18th - 22nd of August 2018

ECACOMSIG organised a three-plus-two-half day Computing Forum at the Universidad de Oviedo Campus of Mieres in Asturias, Spain. It was associated with the European Crystallographic Meeting (ECM31), which was held in nearby Oviedo.

The European Crystallographic Computing Forum will be a participant driven event. Participants can bring small software projects which are outside their current skills and work on them together with other participants in teams, being helped by the invited tutors and each other. We encourage informal tutorials between participants.

Mornings will be filled with plenary discussions and lectures on topics of general interest to computing in all disciplines of crystallography, afternoons and evenings will be run code-camp style, intersparsed with tutorials as needed.

We aim to attract participants from all fields of crystallography, and offer the opportunity to work together across the disciplines; we welcome both beginners at graduate student level and experienced software developers. If you are unsure, feel free to contact us! Please note that this Forum will not cover how to solve structures or use specific crystallographic software, but focusses on the design and programming of crystallographic software.

Dates: The European Crystallographic Computing Forum will be held from the 18th to 22nd of August 2018, immediately preceding the European Crystallographic Meeting ECM31 in nearby Oviedo. There will be three full days teaching and tutorials (19th to 21st August) plus two half days; on the evening of 18th August, there will be an induction consisting of an introductory lecture and "get-together", so participants should plan to arrive on that afternoon.

Location: The Forum will be held on the Universidad de Oviedo Campus of Mieres in Asturias, Spain. Transfer from Asturias Airport to Oviedo is via hourly ALSA buses; change in Oviedo at the central bus station to a "Eurolines Suisse" bus to get to Mieres (8 € airport to Oviedo, 45 minutes; Oviedo to Mieres, 2 €, 23 minutes); pay the driver on the bus (no need to book in advance). Pre-booked taxis cost nearly 90 € from Asturias Airport, independent of the number of passengers.

Do not confuse Mieres (where the Forum is) with Meres, which is also close to Oviedo, but some distance from the Forum.

A bus transfer to the ECM to arrive in time for the opening ceremony is included in the registration.

Cost: Thanks to generous funding by our sponsors, the fee for the Forum has been kept down to 360 € and includes

4 nights accommodation
all meals during the Forum (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
refreshments during the day
transfer to Oviedo at the end of the Forum

Families: We especially welcome registrations from families and parents with children, and offer family rooms as well as babysitting during the morning sessions.

There will be three full days teaching and tutorials (19th to 21st August) plus two half days; on the evening of 18th August, there will be an induction consisting of an introductory lecture and "get-together", so participants should plan to arrive on that afternoon.

Confirmed speakers include

Simon Billinge (Columbia University, USA)
Luc Bourhis (Bruker AXS, France)
Richard Cooper (Oxford University, UK)
Kay Diederichs (Universität Konstanz, Germany)
Helen Ginn (Oxford University, UK)
Jens Lübben (Bruker AXS, Germany)
James Parkhurst (Diamond Light Source, UK)
Harry Powell (London, UK)
Randy Read (Cambridge University, UK)
Andrea Thorn (Rudolf-Virchow-Zentrum, Würzburg, Germany)

Transfer from the Forum in Mieres to the main ECM31 in Oviedo will be provided around lunchtime on the 22nd August, and will arrive in time for the main opening ceremony of ECM31.

The Forum will be open to a maximum of 40 applicants, making for a 1:4 tutor:student ratio.

We look forward to seeing you in Mieres!

Harry Powell

Last modified: Wed Aug 15 14:29:09 BST 2018