Meeting Attendance Bursaries (PhDs and ECRs) (deadline 15th May)

The Geochemistry Group welcomes applications from researchers registered at UK and Irish universities or research institutions to facilitate the presentation of their geochemistry-related research at a meeting hosted online, within the UK or internationally. The bursary is open to students regardless of funding situation as well postdoctoral researchers without financial support for conference attendance. Full eligibility criteria are listed in the application form which can be downloaded from our website: https://geochemistrygroup.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=130&action=edit These are often under subscribed, so you stand a great chance of success!

NEW! Technical Staff Meeting Attendance Bursary (deadline 15th May)

The Geochemistry Group welcomes applications from technical staff (laboratory technicians/managers, project officers, etc.), based at UK and Irish universities or research institutions and working in geochemistry laboratories (either on a short-term or on a permanent basis), to facilitate their attendance at meetings within the UK or internationally.

Funding for the following types of expenses can be applied for through this bursary: (i) offsetting the cost of travel to, and accommodation at, conferences, workshops or training courses being attended in person (the Geochemistry Group encourages low-carbon travel modes but it is also possible to claim for carbon offsetting costs if flying is inevitable); (ii) contributions towards the cost of registration and abstract fees for both online and in-person professional meeting, or (iii) a combination of both. Full eligibility criteria are listed in the application form which can be downloaded from our website: https://geochemistrygroup.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=130&action=edit

Design our new logo!

I am sure you will agree that our logo now seems a little outdated, so we are asking the community to suggest a fresh logo design! This is a rare opportunity to step out of the lab and let your artistic side out!

Please email your design ideas (however rough at this stage!) to George Cooper (CooperG3@cardiff.ac.uk) by May 15th, We will then review the entries at our next committee meeting before a final vote. Please do send your ideas in, or we will have to hand over control to the questionable hands of AI!

The next event (21st April 2026) is: An introduction to Single Crystal X-ray and Electron diffraction techniques by Robert Bannister, Daniel Rainer and Peter Horton (UK National Crystallography Centre, University of Southampton). Register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/nOTgbAGRTYici9nM5PB4gQ#/registration

Determining the atomic arrangement within crystalline materials is fundamental to understanding their properties and behaviour. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) has long been the gold standard for precise structure determination, offering detailed insights into symmetry and coordination environments. However, the main barrier to the use of SCXRD as a technique is the ability to grow suitably sized crystals of sufficient quality. Due to the significantly increased interaction between electrons and matter, when compared with X-rays, electron diffraction (3DED) allows us to study crystals magnitudes smaller than SCXRD experiments. This enables structure solution from nanocrystalline materials. Together, these methods provide a powerful set of techniques for resolving complex structures, but each comes with its own challenges in data collection, interpretation, and refinement. In this talk we will begin with discussing routine SCXRD experiments and then explore 3DED, in both instances looking at sample preparation, through data collection and into structure solution.

All the best

George