General Conference Information

[Preliminary Programme] [Important Dates & Deadlines] [Scientific Programme] [Satellite Meetings] [Workshops] [Abstracts] [Financial Assistance] [Registration & Accomodation] [Registration Fees] [Travel Arrangements] [Weather & Tourist Attractions] [Scenic Earth History Tour] [Exhibitors]

Preliminary Programme

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Important Dates & Deadlines

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Scientific Programme

PLENARY SESSIONS: Eight sequential lectures covering a wide selection of topics. Click here for more details.

MICRO-SYMPOSIA: The scientific programme is divided in five parallel sessions which addresses Five Focus areas: i.e.,

1. Biological and Macromolecular Crystallography,
2. Materials and Minerals,
3. Experimental and Computational Techniques,
4. Chemical Crystallography,
5. Special techniques

Click here for more details.

Click here for Timetables for each day of the Scientific Programme.

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Satellite Meetings

To ensure maximum attendance all aspects of crystallography will be adequately covered by the ECM programme. Only two satellite meetings are scheduled:

1. Indaba IV: The fourth in the Indaba series of interdisciplinary workshops organized by the Structural Chemistry Commission of the IUCr. This meeting will take place at Skukuza, in the Kruger National Park, South Africa from 17 to 22 August 2003.
   Attendance is limited to about 120 delegates. The theme for Indaba 4 is 'Patterns in Nature'. Enquiries to at TechoConferences () or the Organising Committee Chair: (), or visit the Indaba IV website: http://sacrs.org.za/indaba4/ for more details.
   
   
2. African Neutron Diffraction Meeting: The first meeting of its kind to be held in Africa will take place at conference centre close to Pretoria from 21 to 22 August 2003. The theme of the meetimg is Modern Neutron Diffraction and Applications and will include a visit to the Safari-1 research reactor at Pelindaba. Organised by () and (), further details are available on the ANDM website: http://sacrs.org.za/andm/

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Workshops

Three workshops are scheduled, free of charge, on a first come first serve basis. These will run in parallel on Sunday, 24 Aug 2003
Please reserve a place via email to

For further details of these workshops, see the Workshops page

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Important Note

Late winter/early spring is a very good time of the year to view game. ALL participants will be treated to a one day excursion (Friday 29 Aug) INCLUDED IN CONFERENCE FEE, to a Game Park, replacing the normal midweek excursion. The scientific programme will run consecutively non-stop for four days (25-28 Aug).

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Abstracts

Abstracts in English covering all aspects of crystallography and closely related fields of interest are invited. Submissions should be made online using the Abstract Submission Form on this website.
Latest date for submission: 30 April 2003 (this deadline has been extended from 31 March, however, delegates are requested to submit any outstanding abstracts as soon as possible) - see Important Dates & Deadlines.

If you want to submit an updated version of a previously submitted abstract, please go to the Update Abstracts Logon page. Please DO NOT submit the update as a new abstract.

Please note: Small changes to the programme may occur - depending on the number of Abstracts received for each micro-symposium.

Click here if you want to submit an updated abstract

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Posters

There will be two dedicated poster sessions on the afternoons of Tuesday 26 August and Wednesday 27 August starting at 15:45. However, all posters will be on display for the full duration of the meeting. Poster boards with a usable width of 950 mm and a height of 2380 mm will be provided for displaying the poster presentations (see illustration). It is envisaged that presenters will not make full use of the available height as this extends to close to floor level.

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Financial Assistance

Limited financial support with regard to travel, subsistence and conference fees are available. Preference will be given to students, with special emphasis on South African and African, but young and establishing scientists will also be considered for support. Applications will be evaluated after 1 March and candidates will be informed by the middle of April 2003. See Important Dates & Deadlines for more information.

Should you wish to apply for financial assistance then the following procedure has to be followed:

1. Create an abstract and submit it to this site using the Abstract Submission Form. Remember to write down the Abstract ID.
2. Then send an email to the Chairman of the organising committee () indicating the nature/urgency of the financial assistance required along with the Abstract ID, a short CV and a motivation letter from your supervisor (MSc and PhD students) or Senior faculty (Junior researchers).

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Registration & Accommodation

Electronically - request documents from conference organisers: or download from website in either PDF format: (sacrs.org.za/ecm21/ECM-21-mar11.pdf) or in MSWord format: (sacrs.org.za/ecm21/ECM-21-mar11.doc)

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Registration Fees

To avoid problems with foreign exchange all South African delegates will pay in Rands. Please contact for details

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Travel Arrangements

Booking flights using South African Travel agents will result in significant saving on flights from Europe. The official Travel agent of ECM-21 is ASTRA/SURE Travel. Block bookings by e.g., student groups, can result in even larger savings. Contact: Johan le Roux Tel: +27-51-4476352, Fax: +27-51-4476665; email:

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Weather & Tourist Attractions

Spring starts in South Africa at the end of August, and temperatures are very mild (min/max: 10 - 25 °C) in Durban (subtropical city). Special visits to game parks are planned, as well as normal pre- and post-conference tours that will be available to experience South Africa's wealth of wild-life (& the big FIVE!), plant diversity and mineralogical phenomena. Click here for more information.

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Scenic Earth History & Kruger Wildlife Tour

For those delegates interested in the scenic splendour, geology, anthropology and wildlife of South Africa, a post conference tour: "Scenic Earth History & Kruger Wildlife" is offered by Geo-Expeditions. Starting from Durban on Saturday 30 August, this 17 day tour (shorter options are possible) will be guided by Dr Thomas Wallmach and Aki Wilhelm. Full details are available on the Geo-Expeditions website: http://www.geotoursafrica.com/ecm21.htm

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Exhibitors

Exciting exhibition opportunities are available for organisations to showcase products, cutting-edge technologies and equipment at this premier event. Initial documentation may be downloaded from this site with descriptions and costs of stands as either a MSWord document (sacrs.org.za/ecm21/exhibitor_info-feb18.doc) or as a PDF document (sacrs.org.za/ecm21/exhibitor_info-feb18.pdf).

Click here to view a floor plan of the exhibitor area.
More detailed information can be obtained from the conference organiser:

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