SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
U.S. Department of Energy: Office of Science

RapiData 2016 at SLAC - Data Collection and Structure Solving: A Practical Course in Macromolecular X-Ray Diffraction Measurement

About RapiData 2016 at SLAC

Synchrotron radiation is an indispensable tool in macromolecular crystallography and most of the macromolecule structures deposited in the PDB are solved and refined with data collected at synchrotron sources. Some of the skills needed to make optimal use of state-of-the-art beamlines and data processing and analysis software are difficult to learn without intensive hand-on training.

The main goal of the course Rapid Data Collection and Structure Solving is to provide such an educational experience. The course ran 16 times at NSLS (Brookhaven National Laboratory). In 2015, following the closure of NSLS it took place for the first time at SSRL, keeping a similar format and spirit. As in previous editions, RapiData 2016 will develop the ideas behind conventional methods for diffraction-data collection, will describe several different structure-solving methods, and will give students practical experience in work on their own samples.

All students are encouraged to bring their own specimens for data collection, and to bring old data for the data-reduction and structure-solving tutorials. Students are split into several groups for the hands-on training sessions. Participants without crystals will be able to practice on samples provided by the organizers and data collected on the beamlines.

On Sunday April 24th 2016 we will hold a a roughly five-hour lecture course on the fundamentals of crystallography to ensure that students without much previous experience in crystallography benefit fully from the lectures and practicals during the rest of the course. The main RapiData course will begin on Monday morning, 25 April 2016. There will be lectures during Monday and part of Tuesday. The hands on tutorials will begin on Tuesday evening, and run in parallel with data collection on Wednesday and Thursday. The course will end on Friday with a recapitulation meeting, finishing about 10 am.

For information about the speakers, lecture and course format, see the schedule.

Application and registration

Registration is now closed.

Accommodation

We encourage accepted participants to book accommodation at the Stanford Guest House, which is a 5 minute walk from the course venues. Accommodation can be reserved by phone (650) 926-2800 or by e-mail email (guesthouse@stanford.edu). A cheaper rate for course participants is available until February 24th 2016.

Financial aid

All the funds available for travel support have been allocated.

IUCr Scientific Freedom Policy Statement

The Organizing Committee of RapiData 2016 at SLAC shall observe the basic policy of non-discrimination and affirms the right and freedom of scientists to associate in international scientific activity without regard to such factors as ethnic origin, religion, citizenship, language, political stance, gender, sex or age, in accordance with the Statutes of the International Council for Science.
At this course no barriers will exist which would prevent the participation of bona fide scientists.